Foreword: Ladies and gentleman, it's been 2 years, but at long last, I present to you the sequel in my Down a Different Branch series. First, I'd like to apologize to all of those who have waited for so long. Particularly to those who have sent me PMes and have left additional reviews on my original fic, I am sorry for the wait. I still moonlight as a criminal defense attorney by day, thus it is difficult finding the time to write stories like this. I suppose it wasn't so much the actual writing process as it was seriously fleshing out where I wanted to take this story. Nevertheless, after two years of tinkering and tottering on my spare time, I think I've finally fleshed what exactly I wanted to cover with this fic.

A word of warning: This fic will repeatedly reference and build off many of the events that occurred in the first story. Thus, if you haven't read the first fic, I highly recommend doing so! This is especially the case for Tatsumi, Esdeath and Wave's respective character arcs. In order to understand where they are now and where they will go in the future, it's best to understand where they come from . . . if that makes any sense!

A/N #1: I seldom use OC characters. Most of the characters in this fic have been used in AKG canon at some point, albeit some with different or adjusted personalities. Like in the original fic, my primary goal is simply to tap into the hidden potential this series always had and I hope this fic can be used as a vehicle to do just that.

A/N #2: As I explained in the original fic, the author never did bother to flesh out the AKGverse's geography, countries, etc; the canon series does very little world building. Throughout the entire manga, we know very little about the origin of the empire, the origin of teigu, countries outside of the empire, the empire itself (which doesn't even have a real name), danger beast or even the Revolutionary Army. As such, I've taken creative liberty in fleshing some of this stuff out. In the previous fic, I not only gave "the empire" a name ("The Grand Empire"), but also fleshed out what three of the countries outside of the empire were like. I will continue engaging in the act of the world building where I see fit, but never to the point where I feel it bogs the story down (feel free to criticize if you think I am doing just that).

A/N #3: The cover picture is an original design I had commissioned for this fic about two years ago. I might commission another cover photo at some point, but this one works for now! It's not quite to scale IMO (Esdeath is a little taller than the picture suggests).

A/N #4: This is my longest chapter to date. Hopefully, the chapters will get shorter after this one! I felt I needed to cover a lot of ground in this chapter to properly set up events that happen much later.


. . . How did I get here? . . .


Feeling as if he had just endured a prolonged nightmare, Tatsumi drearily began opening his eyes, beads of cold sweat running down his brow and his breathing with the rhythm of a stampeding horse. Just a nightmare; nothing more than a dream he thought. In reality, it was the middle of the night and he had been sitting on coarse and dry sand out in the middle of an equally coarse and dry desert. The sky was just about pitch black, glistened and illuminated only by a dim cluster of stars.

He tried to get up, only to notice a thick layer of ebony chains wrapped around him. What's more, he noticed the more he struggled against these chains, the more he felt the sensation of prickling needles digging into his back and even the back of his head. Turning his head ever so slightly, he had realize that he was chained to a cactus tree. And a surprisingly durable cactus tree at that. It was then that he realized the seeming river of pain flowing from his forehead, to his torso, to his legs. One of his eyes was swelling and both of his arms and legs appeared to be freshly bandaged up in multiple places.

"Finally awake, are we?", said the inquiring voice of a middle aged man.

Tatsumi gazed forward a couple of yards, only to notice a figure sitting at a modest campfire with a hot grease bubbling skillet resting over it. The figure appeared to be a middle aged man with blonde unkempt hair, a small beard and green eyes. What's more, he sported a black wild western coat, black wild western boots and a red scarf. And of more significance was the fact that Incursio in its dormant short sword state was lying right out in the open. Albeit that the hilt was resting firmly beneath one of this middle aged man's boots, it was nonetheless there for the taking. With determination flaring in his eyes, Tatsumi stretched out his right hand as much as he could manage.

Yet this middle aged figure was not the slightest bit phased. "To tell you the truth, I never would have expected a squirt like you to push Incursio as far as you have." The sheathed blade was rustling beneath his boot, attempting to go to its wielder, but, to Tatsumi's dismay, would not budge. "But now that I've seen the extent to which you've evolved its abilities, it's not going to do you any good."

Tatsumi continued to struggle against his chains, but it was to no avail. They were simply too strong. Too resilient. Almost as if they were made of . . . "Orichalchum."

"Seems you somehow figured out how to keep Incursio's strength enhancements without wearing the armor", the middle aged figure commented, his attention drawn towards his campfire skillet. "Not too shabby, but I hope you don't seriously think you can break out of chains like that."

Tatsumi looked around the area, his eyes emitting an illuminating crimson glow.

"Don't bother", said the middle aged figure. "It's just you, me, an entire desert and this skillet fried rattlesnake out here. There's nothing and no one around here that's going to get you out of this one."

Sensing the truth in his apparent captor's words, the luminescence in the former Night Raid member's eyes faded away before directing his attention back to him. "Gozuki the Black Wolf. That's your name, right? I'm guessing there's a reason you haven't finished me off."

"Tatsumi, was it? Your guess would be most correct" he answered, his attention mostly diverted towards the dish in the skillet. "That bounty on your girlfriend's head makes for a pretty good reason."

"And by tying me up and making me your hostage, you plan to lure her here somehow, right?", Tatsumi chuckled almost in a self-derisory fashion. "Considering we're no longer together, that plan won't do you much good."

"You think I'm taking you hostage, do you? Close, but no cigar." Gozuki pinched off a piece of the fried snake to taste it apparently, not at all concerned about the revelation he had just heard. "An old acquaintance of mine is supposed to meet me out here come sunrise. Has a handy device that's supposed to lead me right to her. All I've gotta do is hand you and Incursio over."

"Me and Incursio? Who could he be talking about?", Tatsumi thought, mentally rummaging through his brain for an answer.

"Hmm. Needs more salt", Gozuki said before pulling a salt shaker out of a bag he had on the ground and using it to season his dish.

"Esdeath is not exactly the type to go hiding from anybody, especially if it means shying away from a fight. You'd be a lot better off doing what you've been doing and looking for her directly instead of making deals with people."

This Black Wolf fellow pinched off another piece of the fried snake to taste it once more. "Mmm. A little more pepper shouldn't hurt. Yeah . . . am well aware of her immense appetite for thrill seeking, just as you both are well aware by now that I'm not to be trifled with. If what I've heard about her trump card is true, it'd be a pain in the ass to deal with in some random encounter. It'd be much easier to get the drop on her at my leisure."

"I guess I can't blame you for wanting the bounty on her head, but . . .", Tatsumi remarked before cryptically narrowing his eyebrows. A look that appeared to even give his captor pause as he finally directed his attention away his sizzling rattlesnake dish and fully on Tatsumi, curious as to what he was talking about. "You're making a serious mistake."

Gozuki promptly bit into a chunk of his fried rattlesnake. "Usually, when my targets tell me something like that, it's a sorry attempt on their part to talk me into letting them go. But you'd be surprised by just how much you can tell a lot about a man just by fighting him. And so there's no doubt in my mind that begging like that just isn't your style."

For a brief moment, Tatsumi's eyes widened at just how perceptive his captor truly was. "So then you believe me?"

"Not even remotely", the Black Wolf remarked, still chewing his food. He proceeded to turn and sit down in Tatsumi's direction. "You've simply given me grounds not to gag you or remove your tongue. My acquaintance is not due to arrive for another three hours, so we've got plenty of time to kill. Tell me: Does my so-called 'serious mistake' have anything to do with why you and Esdeath have been skipping around the continent for the past two months?"

To which the former assassin nodded. "It does."

"Then why don't we start from the very beginning and go from there. What were you and that woman doing in Bestimmung in the first place?"


. . . It all started when . . .


Two months ago . . .

It was the middle of the afternoon and two figures on a short canoe had been drifting towards a Bestimmung harbor. A canoe with several unusual features; the interior was comprised entirely of palm tree branches fastened together whereas, the exterior was comprised entirely of ice.

One of the figures was casually sitting on one side of the canoe with one leg crossed over the other. A figure who was none other than the illustrious former general of the Grand Empire's military, the Ice Queen herself, Esdeath. "You see, darling? I told you we wouldn't have a problem getting here without an air manta." And yet despite no longer having any official ties to the military she once served, she was still donned in her imperial general attire, excluding her trademark hat and long rapier; two items which she grudgingly had Tatsumi to thank for no longer having in her possession.

Speaking of the former Night Raid assassin, he was on the other side of the canoe, perched on its bow, full of upbeat youthful energy and gazing upon the port-town they were drifting towards. "You were right, but where is 'here' exactly?" Much like his companion, he too was donned in his most iconic attire; he was wearing his purple hoodie, his white assassin jacket slipped over it and the dormant Incursio safely secured in its sheath on his back.

"If memory serves me, Port Gavon to be precise. We're fortunate that Bestimmung has a very active trade route", she said, glancing towards a number of nearby merchant vessels with the Bestimmung insignia on their sails. "Once I spotted one of their ships, the rest was child's play."

It didn't take long for the pair to reach the port town's docks. Tatsumi eased himself out of the boat and onto the pier. And due to having sat on that boat for so long, he couldn't help but stretch his arms and legs out. Then, feeling as if he forgot something, a smile on his face, he turned around back towards the boat, leaned down and stretched one of his hands out in a gentleman-like fashion. "Where to next, navigator?"

There was a faint blush on Esdeath's cheeks. Whether it was due to her years of being a cold-blooded killer, a testament to her inexperience with receiving such affection or simply seeing even the slightest of affections coming from Tatsumi, it was a feeling she could never see herself fully adjusting to. Nevertheless, she fondly grabbed her companion's hand and let him gently pull her out of their boat. "Preferably someplace quiet . . . "

"You know what I meant!", Tatsumi exclaimed with his cheeks flustered.

"Always the tease, darling", the Ice Queen remarked with a soft chuckle. "We'll need a map or something. I've never actually been to Hertz and am only vaguely familiar with Bestimmung's interior geography."

Tatsumi glanced around the dock before spotting a nearby dockworker transferring goods and supplies out of the merchant vessels. "Excuse me", he said, politely approaching the man. "But we're trying to get to Hertz. How far is it away from this town?"

The dockworker scoffed, reserving most of his attention towards his task at hand. "Piss off you little . . ." But before he could finish his sentence, he felt a thumb and an index finger latched onto in his tongue with a vice-like grip. A feeling that sent shivers down his spine.

It was Esdeath and she didn't look too pleased with the dockworker's answer. "You will answer his question. But before you do, you will apologize for your impudence. And you will do so before I force feed you your tongue after I've ripped it out upon the count of five."

In one quick motion, Tatsumi swatted his companion's hand away from the dockworker's tongue; he pulled her away by said hand and promptly began power walking away much like a parent dragging their unruly child away after the embarrassing scene they caused in public. "Sorry about that!", he said, waving his free hand to the still frantic dockworker while walking away.

Having been accustomed to being a high ranking general for so long, Esdeath was fully and completely unaccustomed to anyone treating her in this manner, much less in open public. After five or six seconds of being dragged away, she snatched her hand out of her love's grasp. "What do you think you're doing?", she asked, the displeasure in her voice thunderous to a frightening degree.

"I could ask you the same question", Tatsumi responded, not at all intimidated as would be the case for almost anyone else on the opposing side of the Ice Queen's ire.

"Did you not hear what that filthy wretch said to you?"

"He's a jerk, but that doesn't exactly excuse ripping someone's tongue out."

"Hmph", she uttered as she folded her arms. "Any tongue capable of describing my Tatsumi in a such a manner deserves nothing less."

To which the Incursio wielder sighed, briefly even rubbing his face against the palm of his right hand. "Geeze. You're impossible sometimes."

Her irritation suddenly vanishing without a trace, the Ice Queen threw her arms around him while blushing in her typical school girl fashion; her embrace was full of such energy and enthusiasm that she even lifted him off the ground and spun around in a full circle. "And you remain adorable even when you're annoyed!"

"Looks like those endless push ups she's been doing are really paying off.", Tatsumi thought, wincing slightly at how tight this otherwise innocent hug was becoming. "Don't remember her being able to squeeze this hard."

"I have a marvelous idea, my love", Esdeath said, still holding her love in an intimate embrace and even rubbing one of her cheeks against one of his. "Let's go on a date!"

"A date? Talk about random. What brought this on?"

"You know how hard it is for me to stay mad at you, my dear!."

"But what about these last several weeks? When you think about it, we've been together constantly nonstop almost as if we've been on one big date."

'I'm talking about a real date, silly", she whimsically retorted before setting Tatsumi back down. "Come to think of it, we haven't been on a single one throughout the course of our relationship."

Not giving the turbulent encounter with the hostile dockworker another thought, the two began making their way further into this portside town and crossing a multitude of mercantile establishments ranging from butchers, fish markets, trinkets to general goods. Having spotted a bustling tavern, however, they decided to go inside, have a seat at one of the sets of dining booths near one of the windows and continue their conversation all the while.

"What about that merchant ship we ate on?", Tatsumi asked, reminiscing about those merchants that had rewarded him and Esdeath for saving them from pirates. "That was a date."

The Ice Queen shook her head, however, while maintaining a knowing smile. "Technically, no. We weren't a couple at the time. Besides, based on my research, that would've not constituted a date even if we had been a couple at that point."

"Your . . . research?", Tatsumi asked, arching his brow. "She really goes out all with this stuff, doesn't she?"

To which Esdeath responded while removing a small notebook from one of her pockets, "Since the day we've met, I've made sure to record a litany of qualitative observations of numerous couples I've spotted throughout the capital . . ."

"Quala-what?", Tatsumi interrupted, his demeanor similar to that of someone hearing a foreign language.

"Qualitative, my dear. As in relating to, measuring, or measured by the quality of something rather than its quantity. And using these other couples as a reference, I confirmed that real dates consist of activities such as dining together at the finest restaurants, attending the opera or theater alongside one another, ballroom dancing and occasionally strolling together in the park among other things."

"Yeah . . .", Tatsumi shrugged before rubbing the back of his head in a fidgeting fashion. "I'm not exactly on anyone's payroll right now, what with no longer being a member of Night Raid and all. Plus, all of those things are a little bit outside my price range. And by a little bit, I mean a LOT of bits."

"Not to worry",she retorted ever so boastfully. "When it comes to our love, money is no object That I can assure you."

"I appreciate the enthusiasm . . . but you aren't exactly employed either now that you're no longer a general. Which reminds me, why are you still wearing those clothes?", he noted, remarking on her military attire.

The Ice Queen sported a coy look in her eyes. "Tatsumi, dear, if you don't want me wearing them, then lets just find someplace nice and quiet already."

"You know what I meant!"

She let out a soft chuckle once more. "If we stumble across a suitable enough tailor, I'll consider it, but I've grown fond of this apparel over the years. It lets people immediately know my status in comparison to theirs. All that's missing is my trademark hat, no thanks to you of course."

Tatsumi was suddenly reminded of their duel in the Capital's palace courtyard and how he had inadvertently gusted the Ice Queen's hat off her head with the force of one his sword swings. "Sorry about that", he said with an embarrassed chuckle. "I guess I could make it up to you with a date, but there's still the money problem."

"Even before I joined the Grand Empire's imperial army, money has never been an obstacle I couldn't remedy. You leave that to me. For now, we'll focus on your quest. What happens next is up to you."

"Right", Tatsumi nodded with a sudden sense of self-assurance. "Which starts with figuring out how to get to Hertz. After that, I guess we'll head straight there."

To which Esdeath responded, her eyes gleaming with fascination. "The sooner the better. This Omega class beast you've told me about should at very least prove a decent warmup for our rematch."

Tatsumi chuckled, amused by his girlfriend's overt enthusiasm."So that's when you intend to-"

A cantankerous old shrew of a waitress had walked up to the pair, practically barking at them before Tatsumi could finish his sentence."We're not too keen on loitering around here. Are you two gonna order something or what?"

"With that attitude, I think I'll have a fresh head on a platter", Esdeath retorted, having sported a fiendish grin.

"Say what?", the elderly waitress responded, simultaneously digging the excess ear wax out of one of her ears.

"Uh, hey! I sure could go for some ice cream!", Tatsumi voiced, energetically trying to deescalate the sudden tension.

"What flavor?" the waitress asked as she penciled the order down on a small notepad.

"Chocolate for me! And vanilla and peppermint for my sweet hearted girlfriend with radiant blue hair", Tatsumi responded, forcefully laughing, as if begging the Ice Queen to let the waitress' rudeness slide.

And somehow, this worked, as Esdeath's temper had yet again disappeared without a trace and she was yet again blushing like a school girl. "You think my hair is radiant?"

"Whatever", the waitress remarked, rolling her eyes while holding her hand out. "That'll be 6 gold pieces."

"6 gold pieces for some ice cream?", the former assassin huffed before removing that amount from his pocket and handing it over. "Wow. Back in my hometown, you can get a whole cake for 6 gold pieces."

"Well you're not in your home town, son, so take it or leave it", the waitress said before walking away without giving Tatsumi's remark another thought. "

The waitress was just about to approach the kitchen to put in Tatsumi's order when a town guard walked into the tavern. Not in pursuit of an investigation or patrol of any sort, but rather to simply take a break from his duties, indicated by his decision to take a seat at the bar stool at the bar table near the front. "Afternoon, Agatha", he said, nodding in the elderly waitress' direction.

"A little early for you, eh Frank?", the waitress replied in a rather familial tone, not a hint of the rudeness she had in her back-in-forth with Tatsumi and Esdeath. "Any progress on the recent disappearances."

"I'm afraid not", the guard sighed. "10 missing people in the last month and the trail remains cold. Never leaves behind any evidence. Way too smart for it to be the work of a danger beast. Whoever is doing it has gotta be a pro."

"You're never gonna get that commendation you're wanting like that, Frank. Some mercenaries are sailing in tonight. I'm sure if you pay them some good money, they'll take care of it and you can try to take the credit afterwards."

The guard reached into his pocket and removed what appeared to be a gold piece three times the size of a regular gold piece and with a much higher grade of quality. "Do you know how much we had to spend the last time we had to resort to hiring mercenaries to solve a problem?"

The elderly waitress' mouth dropped wide open. "An entire plućque?!" Indeed, the piece of currency the guard held in his hand was known as a plućque. For hundreds of years, whether it was during peace or wartime, the Grand Empire, Bestimmung, Reispan and Ali Jinnah had all agreed to maintain a universal form of currency. A specially molded currency of gold coins everyone acknowledged as 'gold pieces.' But there were different kinds of gold pieces; a single gold piece was a regular specially molded gold coin referred to as a gold piece, but coins that were different in size and made of higher grade and quality were worth more. A tín, for example, were slightly larger than an ordinary gold piece, was made of a slightly higher quality of gold and was worth 50 gold pieces on its own. A silvát, on the other hand, was twice the size of an ordinary gold piece, was made of a much higher quality of gold and was worth 200 gold pieces on its own. And then there was the plućque; it was the coin most poor people would never see in an entire lifetime and was worth 5,000 gold pieces on its own.

"I'll be damned if I have to give this to some money grubbing mercenary", the guard scowled.

Unbeknowst to the Bestimmung pair, Tatsumi's eyes and ears were practically glued in their direction. With the talk of disappearances and danger beast, he couldn't help but listen. A fact the Ice Queen not only did not miss, but one she did not even appear to be surprised about. "You do know eavesdropping is considered rude, dear."

With an inquisitive look on his face, the former assassin directed his attention back towards his blue haired companion. "You heard them though. Something strange has been going on here lately."

Esdeath simply shrugged in response. "Right now, I'm sure that if you look hard enough, you'll find something strange occurring in the small East Reispan town of La Pasión. Perhaps we should go there as well."

"Ha ha. Very funny", Tatsumi sarcastically retorted while rolling his eyes.

"No need to get annoyed, my love", she replied with a soft giggle. "I'm just saying that this hero complex of yours is unhealthy. You already came here with a slated goal. Why not stick with that?"

Before Tatsumi could mouth an answer, he noticed someone standing at the booth all of the sudden. It was a little girl, she was no more than ten years old, she wore glasses and she had a blonde hair tied into a ponytail and blue eyes. And for some reason, she was staring at the former assassin without uttering a word. Several moments of awkward silence passed before Tatsumi decided to smile and cordially speak up. "Um . . . hi?"

The little girl did not say anything in response, but instead continued to stare.

"My name is Tatsumi. What's your name?", he said, waving one of his hands in an introductory fashion.

"Why do they look like that?, the little girl asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Oh these?", he responded, gesturing towards his two eyes. Indeed, as strange a place as a world with danger beast and imperial arms might be, red eyes with cross slit black pupils at the center wasn't something most people would consider ordinary. "It's a pretty long story."

"Are you a magician?", the little girl queried, her eyes still beaming with curiosity.

To which the former assassin chuckled. "I wish! I'd definitely start with making some more gold pieces appear."

"I like you. You're funny", the little girl giggled. "My name is Cornelia. You must be lucky to have a big sister."

The Ice Queen suddenly cleared her throat in a passive aggressive attention drawing fashion. "I'm not his sister. I'm his girlfriend."

"Oooooh!", Cornelia realized, a light blush on her cheeks. "But you're taller than him. And boyfriends are supposed to be taller than girlfriends."

"To be fair . . .", Tatsumi remarked, grinning and rubbing the back of his head. "She is older than me."

"Something as meager as one's height has got nothing to do with love, little girl", Esdeath retorted, clearly on the defensive.

"Ooooh!", Cornelia responded, putting her hands on her cheeks. "That's so romantic!"

"Cora, are you bothering customers again?", said an approaching figure. It was a young boy, he was no more than thirteen years old and he had curly blonde hair and blue eyes and was a few inches taller than the little girl. Moreover, the boy had a short-bow and a full quiver of arrows strapped to his back. He walked up to Cornelia and immediately began grinding his knuckles on her head in a noogie-like fashion. "You know how granny Agatha feels about that!"

"Owe! Cut it out, Rolf!", the little girl retorted.

"Don't mind her, folks", the young boy said said, diverting his attention to Tatsumi and Esdeath. "The names Rolf and this here is my pain in the neck little sister. She won't be bothering you anymore."

Tatsumi smiled at the scene, as if remarking back on his own adolescence. "Thanks, but she wasn't bothering us."

Cornelia promptly stuck her tongue out in her older brother's direction. "You see?"

Rolf didn't pay her any mind however. Instead, he was more interested in the item holstered to Tatsumi's back."That's a pretty nice sword you got there, mister. Are you a mercenary?"

The former assassin shook his head. "Just a traveler passing through town."

"That's good to hear!", Rolf sighed in relief. "With the notice board as scarce as it is these days, there just isn't enough work to go around."

"Danger beast have never ran as rampant up here. A testament to northern vigilance", Esdeath interjected with a hint of pride sparkling in her eyes. "Speaking of which, where can we find a blacksmith?"

Rolf nodded his head and pointed out the window in a direction further into town. "Schmied's Blacksmithing! You'll want to go three blocks up. It's right across the stables."

"Good. It just doesn't feel right walking around without a rapier at my side."

Before the conversation could go any further, the guard who had been sitting at a bar-stool had gotten up and approached the group of four, only now with a cup of coffee in one of his hands. "That's enough chitchat. Get back to your post, Rolf. I don't need you getting shown up by those damn mercenaries."

"Yes sir!", Rolf said with a firm salute before exiting the tavern.

The guard then turned to the little girl. "By the time I get back to the barracks, those errands better be finished and those floors better be spotless! Do you hear me?!"

Cornelia gave a quick salute as well before sprinting out of the tavern. "Yes sir!"

"Good for nothing kids", the guard cursed under his breath before even noticing Tatsumi and Esdeath. "Wait a minute. You there with the blue hair. Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"Possibly", she shrugged her shoulders with disinterest and uncertainty. "I've seen hundreds of thousands of people in the last five years alone. You'll have to be more specific."

"I know I've seen you somewhere", the guard rubbed his chin in a ruminating fashion before making his way towards the exit. "Hmph. In the meantime, be sure to keep a lookout for any suspicious behavior. We believe there's been a serial killer on the loose lately."

Just as the guard had left, Agatha, the cantankerous old waitress returned to Tatsumi and Esdeath's booth with two ice cream cones each with two scoops stacked on them. "There you go", she said, handing both of them their respective orders before walking away.

It only took one lick from his cone for Tatsumi crimson eyes to widen like that of a kid on the playground. A sight that prompted a few giggles from the Ice Queen before she began licking her own. "You see? Everything is better up north. Even ice cream."

"This stuff is amazing!", he slurped, licking away the chocolate scoops faster and faster.

"Careful, love", Esdeath said with concern in her voice, raising her hand as if to say slow down. "At that rate, you'll get . . ."

"Arrggh!"

The Ice Queen cringed her eyes, as if all too familiar with the feeling. " . . . brain freeze."

It wasn't long until the pair eventually left the tavern. Following Rolf's directions, they headed towards the blacksmith's shop that had been referenced. Tatsumi had finished his ice cream cone whereas Esdeath was still licking on hers. As they approached closer to their destination, they could hear the distinct sounds of a hammer hitting an anvil and smell the distinct smell of the thick industrial stench of coal dust and molten iron. Across the horse stables Rolf referenced, they noticed a modest blacksmithing shop with the words 'Schmied's Blacksmithing' carved and displayed on the sign at the entrance.

The pair proceeded to enter the blacksmith's shop, taking ample notice of its dusty and brimming interior upon making their way inside. A wide variety of weapons stood hanging on the walls; from battle axes to halberds, this shop was well equipped. Behind the counter was a short and scruffy old man with a thick white beard who appeared to be preoccupied with smithing a longsword; no doubt Schmied himself. Hearing people drawing near, he immediately ceased his work and turned his attention to what otherwise appeared to be two new customers. "Schmied's Forging at your service."

Esdeath took a step closer to the counter. "I'm looking to get a long rapier. Custom made of course with pure orichalcum."

The blacksmith's eyes widened, his eyes focused on the Ice Queen's attire. "Had I known a member of the Grand Imperial military would be gracing my little shop with her presence today, I would have restocked my materials."

"Well?", the Ice Queen said, no intention of correcting him about her status in the Grand Imperial military. "Can you make a rapier to my specifications or not?"

"Mmmm . . . no can do", the blacksmith responded while stroking his beard. "We don't have any orichalcum out in these parts and I'd need to do a special order. You'll have to settle for iron for now."

"Iron?!" Without even a moments notice. Esdeath dropped her ice cream cone on the floor and conjured a razor sharp icicle out of thin air and held the tip end inches away from the elderly blacksmith's neck. "What kind of backwater shop is this?"

"Take it easy, ma'am", Schmied replied, nervous sweat drops increasingly running down his brow. "You just aren't in the right town."

Tatsumi let out at a frustrated sigh before gently tugging at his girlfriend's free arm. "It's not a big deal. We'll just stop at the right town."

Esdeath, however, appeared undeterred with her regal yet threatening posture and kept her eyes locked on the blacksmith, "This country is well known for its orichalcum deposits. No one swindles me and lives the tell the tale."

"But I'm not swindling you! Honest!", the blacksmith exclaimed, fearfully shaking his head. "Orichalcum is among the rarest of the rarest metals in the world. I don't have any in stock. Ask the smiths in cities next to orichalcum deposits."

"Orichalcum deposits?" A lightbulb swiftly went off in Tatsumi's head just then; he recalled the fight he had with the deceased General Budo months ago and how he had used his imperial arm to manipulate the traces of orichalcum in the ground to form a makeshift set of orichalcum armor. "Wait a minute, this actually works out just fine!"

Her gaze still locked on Schmied, curiosity nonetheless gleamed in her eyes at she heard her love's remarks. "What are you talking about?"

"Hertz has orichalcum deposits. Lets just get you a new sword there. I'm sure you can make due with an iron rapier until then."

Upon hearing this, the Ice Queen let out a frustrated sigh before rubbing her face in the palm of her free hand. Then, with her eyes still locked on the blacksmith, she said "Count yourself lucky my tenacious boyfriend is present or else I assure you this conversation would've ended much differently."

"Um . . . yes, but of course!", Schmied stammered. "And as a token of good faith, I'll make the rapier tempered at a discount rate of 350 gold pieces. How does that sound?"

Esdeath firmly narrowed her eyes, refusing to pacify the blacksmith's conciliatory tone, "How long will it take?"

To which Schmied replied, "I should be done by tomorrow afternoon."

Having no further patience for this discussion, the Ice Queen turned away immediately and began making her way towards the exit. "Lets go, Tatsumi."

With the utmost politeness, the former assassin nodded his head towards the blacksmith before making his way towards the exit as well. "Sorry about that. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Your business is most appreciated!", Schmied replied before returning back to the longsword he had been smithing.

The moment Tatsumi walked out of the shop, he immediately noticed his girlfriend sporting an ice-like glare of disapproval. "What?", he asked, inquiring to whatever he surely had done wrong.

"You realize you let him swindle us, right?"

The former assassin let out a soft chuckle. "350 gold pieces is a pretty good deal for a newly forged and tempered rapier. Especially considering we're down to 10 gold pieces."

"I'm not talking about that", Esdeath replied, simultaneously beginning to walk further into town. "I'm talking about the fact that he had orichalcum and that you passed up on getting it out of him."

Tatsumi began walking alongside his companion, "What makes you think he had orichalcum?"

"We're in a portside town with merchant ships going in and out. You'd have to be a fool to run a blacksmith shop without having even the slightest trace of metal this country is best known for. He was trying to deceive us."

"Even if you're right, we have nowhere near enough money to buy the kind of rapier you're looking for."

The Ice Queen's lips curled into a boastful smirk. "You saw the fear in his eyes. I would have gotten it out of him one way or another.

"You know I wouldn't just sit idly by and let that happen", he replied with a slight shrug.

"If I didn't know better, I would say that was a challenge", she laughed. "Are we really about to fight again because of the likes of Schmied the swindling blacksmith?"

"No", a half smile cracked on the Incursio wielder's face. "Something tells me you don't intend to waste something as important to you as our rematch on something so petty."

"How right you are, my love. When we fight again, it'll be in someplace more refined. A place with a lot more . . .", she paused, whimsically searching for just the right word, ". . . grandeur."

Tatsumi raised one of his eyebrows. "Yeah . . . I'm just going to nod my head and pretend to know what you mean by that."

"Either way, we've got to come up with a better way of sorting out our disagreements. Wasting a perfectly good battle over the likes of Schmied the Blacksmith doesn't exactly sit well with me. I'd much rather savor our duel for a more intimate setting."

"Intimate setting?", he thought, shuddering as he pictured a chibi-version of Esdeath glomping on a chibi version of himself.

"Not remotely what I meant, but I can arrange that too if you prefer!", the Ice Queen winked.

"At any rate, I'd rather not have to fight over something like that either. If you've got something else in mind, I'm all ears."

"How about a wager? ", she smirked like a cheshire cat, her gaze having shifted to the town notice board up ahead.

"What are you up to?", he sighed, realizing she was scheming at something he wasn't going to look forward to. At this point, he was well enough acquainted with his Ice Queen to know when the wheels in her head were turning.

"Your ceaseless hero-complex aside, you do raise a valid point. We are short on money; 10 gold pieces won't even fetch us a nice meal, much less a decent rapier. Therefore, why don't we make things interesting?" She promptly walked up to the notice board, gazing upon a couple of contracts involving danger beasts outside of town, the reward money ranging from meager to modest sums of gold pieces. "Whoever has the most gold pieces by 11:00 pm tonight is the winner."

Tatsumi walked up to the notice board himself, his eyes pouring over each contract. As the young Rolf had remarked in the tavern earlier, there wasn't much work to go around, but there were a few contracts present nonetheless. The beasts up for grabs were Class Three danger beasts, wanted for meager sums of gold. Lower on the scale than their Class Two, Class One, Supreme Class and Ultra Class counterparts, but nonetheless threatening in their own right. These beasts were best known for preying on small cattle and small children. Though not physically imposing in their own right, they're all best known for targeting unsuspecting prey. Ox-spiders, for example, would spray highly inconspicuous webbing near bushes and abduct anything that waltzed by. Larceners, for example, were vulture like creatures known for building their nests near children's play areas and swooping down and abducting them before parents or teachers were any the wiser. Despite their danger, they too were almost never hunted by professionals given that an armed ordinary human could take care of them with enough caution. "One gold piece for an ox-spider? 2 gold pieces for a blood snail? Seriously? We may as well go offer to clean the dishes at the tavern or something. We could catch ten of those each and it still wouldn't be enough for supplies, much less your new sword."

The Ice Queen was not dissuaded however. "Look at the contract in the middle, dear."

Tatsumi shifted his gaze away from the insignificant Class three beast contracts and to the contract fastened to the center of the notice board. It was there that he saw a Class One danger beast contract up for grabs. And not for the meager amount of 1 or 2 gold pieces either. "560 gold pieces?" The beast was listed as being an Ice Wolf; a menacing creature in its own right, but a creature Tatsumi nonetheless had no difficulty dealing with the last time he was in Bestimmung. "Had I known Ice-Wolves were worth that much, I would've bagged each one of the ones we took care of the last time I was up here."

"So do we have a deal?", she chuckled.

The former assassin cringed for a moment, wondering as the thought of losing this wager sprouted in his mind."Do I even want to know what happens if you win?"

"If I win? Ha! When I win, I get to make one request. And no matter what it is, you must agree to it."

"Fine", he huffed, "but it can't involve killing, stealing or otherwise doing something a bad guy would do."

"Fair enough", she playfully winked. "It's a deal."

"Alright, then it's only fair that if I win, you have to do something I want you to do."

"Naturally. Now then, let the games commence."


. . . A friend of mine was also traveling . . .


Elsewhere, near the mid-western border of the Grand Empire was another port-side town by the name of Port Ranpor. For a port, it was the polar opposite of the one Tatsumi and Esdeath had just entered. The shops were sparse and the trade was just about nonexistent. Thanks to the former Prime Minister's greed and corruption, it was much like many of the towns outside the capital; it was an impoverished setting full of simple villagers making their living off the land and sea nearby.

Yet unlike under Honest's reign, sparks of new life were breathing into the port. Numerous soldiers from the capital could be seen assisting the villagers with the construction of new infrastructure. Tons and tons of the finest plywood had been carried via horse carriage directly from the capital. Masons could be seen hard at work binding bricks and stones together. Craftsman could be seen building various doors, walls, beds and chairs.

At the dock were three boats. Two of the boats were imperial warships with additional soldiers carting down supplies no doubt from the capital. The remaining boat was a large cruise ship, identical to the one Tatsumi and Bulat had faced the now deceased Three Beasts trio on. And from the looks of things, this ship was just about to set sail.

"Sorry about the last minute notice", Run said, sitting at a luxury platinum colored booth inside one of the cruise ship's many decks. The booth he had been sitting in was one of many in a long row of booths aligned against the wall. A continuous glass wall that allowed passengers to simultaneously appreciate the outside view.

"Don't apologize!", a man in a black tuxedo responded, his voice filled with enthusiasm. And based on the appearance of his skin complexion and brunette facial hairs, middle aged no doubt. "Any envoy of his majesty's is always welcome on my ships!"

"Ships?", Run asked, taking quick note of the plural. "This isn't your only cruise?"

"You heard me correctly", the man laughed, still enthusiastic. "Thanks to the tax reduction his majesty recently imposed on commercial travel, I've decided to widen my enterprise. Give it a year or two, but I bet ports like this will become an excellent spot for tourism."

"Yeah yeah, that's all well and good . . .", Leone yawned, sitting across from Run; her head was rested on her right hand and her eyes were half-open. "Say Mr. Matthews, where's your booze?"

"Ah yes. Give me a moment. I'll have someone from the bar bring you a menu and let you pick from our finest champagne."

" A whole menu?!", she squealed, her boredome dispersing in an instant. "I'll have one of everything! And don't worry about bringing a glass, just bring me-"

Before she could utter another word, Run had slapped one of his hands onto her mouth, much to her annoyance, leaving nothing but mumbles to be heard. "Actually, don't worry about bringing the menu out. My subordinate and I will settle for two apple juices."

"Right away, Sir Run", Mr. Matthews replied while giving a polite bow. "And as soon as the maid is done preparing your suite, I'll have someone bring you your room keys."

"Thanks again", Run smiled, his hand still pressed over Leone's mouth and the sounds of annoyed mumbling still ensuing. As soon as the ship's owner was beyond an earshot of the two, he removed his hand before letting out a sigh of his own.

"Hey what's the big idea here? Can't a girl get a drink?"

"I can't have your drunkenness getting in the way of our operation."

"You really think I'm gonna get THAT drunk?"

"Hmph", Run folded his arms contemplatively, "Need I remind you why you got conscripted into Night Watch in the first place?"

"That still doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to have even a drop until we get off the boat!"

"No one said anything about having only one drop. If you had some self-control, this wouldn't even be an issue."

"What part of being a covert assassin don't you get? I'm all about self-control!"

"I see", he smirked. "So it was Night Raid that taught you how to drunkenly wreck taverns left and right."

As Leone was about to mouth a response, a fancily dressed waiter walked up to the two with the two glasses of apple juice resting on a tray. "Compliments of Mr. Matthews", he said before setting the cups down on the table and walking away.

Run lifted his glass and extended it out in a celebratory gesture. "Cheers."

Leone was anything but pleased however; she turned her nose up even. "You know I'm not drinking that, right?"

While taking a sip out of his glass, the ex-Jaegar notice someone approaching their booth - prompting him to set his glass down. "Can I help you?"

It was a young and petite woman with considerably tanned skin, blonde bunned up hair and a pair of green eyes. What's more, she looked professional, given that her eyes behind a pair of business glasses and that she was wearing a gray business formal slim long sleeve blazer. "Hi! Karrie Overwood. I'm with the Grand Times Newspaper and I'm in the process of writing an article about the recent events in our country. I was hoping we could have a chat."

"An interview huh?", Run openly mused. "Sorry, but I'm not really at liberty to talk about anything that will in any way compromise the integrity of our national security."

"You don't have to worry", Karrie smiled. "If there's a question you aren't at liberty to answer, just say so and I'll move on."

"Very well", he shrugged. "I suppose we do have some time. Have a seat next to my subordinate here."

With a nod of her head, Karrie scooted next to Leone, prompting the feral ex-assassin to whimsically whisper into her ear. "If you go get me something from the bar, I'll answer whatever you want."

"Leone!", he glared with disapproval.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Never a dull moment with you, boss", Leone replied, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"First question", Karrie said, pulling out a pen and a small notepad from her pocket. "What do you think of his majesty's decision to use a significant portion of the imperial treasury on improving the infrastructure of towns like Port Ranpor?"

"Well Ms. Overwood, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link; a concept the previous Prime Minister never seemed to grasp. His majesty understands that he is a servant to his citizens and that he cannot oppress them with absurdly high taxes. His majesty sees his current budgetary practices as an investment towards his people's future."

"That's not how a majority of the nobles in capital see it. They say they've paid most of the taxes and that his majesty is merely redistributing their money to people who haven't earned it. What do you say to that?"

"I say the nobles have a strange sense of humor since the very concept of nobility involves unearned privileges just because you happen to be born into a certain family or happen to have gained just the right amount of favor with a corrupt despot."

"You mean former Prime Minister Honest? That leads me to my second question. His majesty has had Honest arrested and imprisoned based on his many atrocities, but does that really absolve his majesty from the role he played in carrying out Honest's atrocities?"

To which Run replied, "His majesty has taken his role in the chaos Honest caused quite personally which is part of the reason he has taken so much action to right those wrongs by doing everything he can to serve the people."

"And again, there are those in the capital who don't share that viewpoint. Far be it from me to take such a stance, but some groups are saying that the old Prime Minister was able to use his majesty like a puppet and that the current Prime Minister is no different. That just like Honest, she too is merely using his majesty to further her own political ambitions. What do you make of that?"

Run shook his head in polite disagreement, "I'm aware of those rumors, but they don't really have any merit. His majesty will appear in person at the upcoming Intercontinental Peace Summit. The press will be invited to attend, so you're welcome to judge then and there for yourself."

"Third question: What about Prime Minister Najenda? Just a day before she became the Prime Minister, she was a high ranking member of the Revolutionary Army and led a group of terrorist known as Night Raid."

"Assassins", Leone chimed in. "Not terrorists. Assassins. Get it right, kay?

"Regardless, is it a really wise decision to allow a former . . . assassin-leader to immediately have the second highest ranking position in the empire?"

"There's been a great deal of misinformation about Prime Minister Najenda, her role in some revolutionary army and whatnot. Again, judge for yourself. You'll have the opportunity to address this subject and others at the upcoming peace summit", Run smirked. "Putting the nobles aside, the people love her."

"Fair enough. Fourth question: Lets talk about someone people don't love. Former General Esdeath. Where is she?"

"I have no idea", Run shrugged once again.

"Weren't you a former member of the Jaegers. Second-in-command I believe. Surely you would know."

"Nope . . .", he chuckled. ". . . I haven't the slightest idea."

"How is it that she just up and disappeared on the exact same day Najenda became the Prime Minister?"

"That's confidential information I'm afraid."

"Can you tell me anything about what happened the day she disappeared?"

"That's also confidential. Sorry", Run said, again shrugging.

"Fifth question: What are you doing out here on this cruise ship? Don't you have more important business to be doing back in the capital?"

"The Prime Minister has taken notice of the tireless efforts I have made in helping to implement his majesties new policies and insisted that I take a sabbatical."

"A sabbatical?", Leone chimed with faux indignation, her lips curling into a mischievous grin. If her new boss was gonna deny her some liquor, she was going to make it worth her while. "That's no way to refer to our little getaway here, honey."

"Honey?" Run replied, doing his best to remain nonchalant, his teeth grinding notwithstanding.

Ms. Overwood took a look at Leone, then Run, then Leone, then Run once more before giggling aloud. "Oh. I see. You two are . . ."

"Fiancés!", Leone shouted with enthusiasm


. . . We ventured into the woods . . .


Back in Bestimmung, the sun had just set and Tatsumi was perched high up in a snow covered oak tree a little less than a mile outside of Port Gavon's city-gates. He was in a forest chocked full of wild life, ranging from squirrels, to owls, to deer. But despite his best efforts, he didn't spot a single danger beast. An outcome in complete contrast to his last visit in this country; back when he had taken down an class one ice rhino, class one ice-wolves, a supreme class spawn of Cyaegha and a supreme class Headless Hunter. Having faced and conquered all of those threats in the past, he had come into this forest expecting to easily fulfill enough danger beast contracts to win Esdeath's bet. But it wasn't that simple.

"It's getting late", he sulked, slowly having come to accept that he probably wouldn't be able to fulfill any danger beast contracts at the rate he was going. With one flip, he leapt out of the tree, tumbling mid air to break his fall as he hit the ground. "I figured if I stayed high up in one spot, I'd spot something eventually. But I guess it's not gonna be that simple."

Tatsumi began making his way out of the forest area and a onto cobbled pathway out in the open - the pathway lined and lit with street lanterns. "I figured all that time being an assassin would give me some kind of edge in tracking this thing down, but no such luck. Looks like hunting takes a different set of skills entirely."

He rummaged through his pockets, hoping to find out that he had more gold pieces on him than he initially believed. But true to his memory, what he found was a meager 10 gold pieces. "Dammit. The one time I'm flat broke. Maybe if I wash some dishes at that tavern or something, we'll at least get enough gold pieces to afford a room at the inn."

Before he could take another step further, he heard the pitter-pattering of footsteps on the cobbled ground from behind him. With his guard being up, he swiftly reached over his shoulder and rested his right hand on Incursio's sheath before turning around. "Oh. It's just you."

The one approaching Tatsumi was none other than Rolf, the young archer from earlier. "It's not safe to be out here this late by yourself."

"Thanks for the concern, but I think I'll manage. What about you though? Aren't you a little too young to be out here by yourself?"

"Patrolling Port Gavan's perimeter is my job!", the young boy proclaimed with pride sparkling in his eyes. "Whether it's sunrise or midnight, no one gets around the perimeter without me knowing about it!"

Tatsumi looked around the woodland scene, almost as if to wonder if his lack of success at this little hunting expedition was result of this young boy's vigilance, "With you around, I don't see why this town even needs a notice board."

"So that's what you're doing out here?", Rolf laughed, instantly having pieced everything together. "Wish I could take the credit for it, but danger beasts have been getting more scarce around here lately."

"I figured as much", the former assassin sighed. "I guess we'll have to find some other way to make money."

"Well hold on a minute", Rolf replied, rubbing his chin as if to openly pontificate. "Which danger beast were you looking to catch?"

"The notice board mentioned a class one Ice Wolf worth 560 gold pieces."

"Hmm. Ice wolf. Ice wolf. Class one ice wolf", the young archer muttered and continued rubbing his chin, before looking as if a light bulb had gone off in his head. "Yeah, I just might be able to help you out with that."

"Really?"

"Yep! There's an old barn a couple of miles northwest from here. Over the past couple of days of my patrol, I've been hearing a creature scavenging around there at night, but since that's technically outside Port Gavin's perimeter, I haven't checked it out yet, but it's probably the class one ice wolf."

The look on Tatsumi's face was nothing short of gracious as he shook Rolf's hand. "Thank you so much! If it's not too much trouble, do you mind taking me to this barn?"

"I don't mind, but don't you think we should go get your companion first? Class one beasts are pretty strong after all."

"I've fought class one ice wolves before. One alone won't be a problem!"

Rolf looked upon the former assassin with sheer fascination and awe. "Really? You must be pretty strong! I can't wait to see you in action."

"Just sit back and enjoy the show!", Tatsumi remarked, chuckling and rubbing his finger under his nose.

"OH ROLF!", yelled a quickly approaching voice. The former assassin and the young archer turned in the direction of the town, only to see a familiar young girl dashing in their direction.

Rolf rolled his eyes and buried his face into his palm. "Oh great, it's my annoying sister. Lets just go ahead and run off before she mucks things up like usual."

Tatsumi paid no mind to the frustrated siblings' crude remark, instead politely waving towards the little girl. "Hello again!"

"Hi there, Mr. Tatsumi!", Cornelia cheerfully exclaimed, finally in walking distance. "What are you and my brother doing out here?"

"None of your bee's-wax, Cora. Go back to the barracks where you belong."

"I'm just bringing you your dinner, jerk!", she said before showing him a brown paper sack lunch bag. "It's not my fault you've been showing up late to the messhall lately!"

"Okay okay", Rolf retorted in exasperation, snatching what was presumably his dinner out from his sister's hands. "Now get outta here. We're busy."

"Wait a minute! You two are doing something fun out here, aren't you?", Cornelia pouted. "Why can't I join in?"

Rolf rolled his eyes. "Because a crybaby like you is only gonna get in the way!"

"It's no big deal", Tatsumi interjected, still paying no heed to Rolf's disdain for his sister's antics. Rather, he couldn't help but smile fondly upon her. The former assassin wouldn't admit it, but it felt nostalgic being the intermediary between two quarreling siblings again. A scene right out of his childhood. A scene right out of the days before he had joined Night Raid all those months ago. "She can come along."

Cornelia promptly leapt for joy upon hearing this. "Yes! Thank you!"

"Awe, c'mon", Rolf protested. "She's never even held a weapon, much less been in a fight. The only thing she's even been good for is cleaning the barracks!"

"That's not true!", the young girl retorted before sticking her tongue out in her brother's direction. "I've been in plenty of fights! You've just never seen them!"

To which the older sibling snickered. "Yeah right."

"Settle down you two. If we're going to catch this danger beast, we'll need to work together", Tatsumi said, still grinning with nostalgia in his eyes. He reassuringly placed his hands on both of their heads before adding, "Rolf: I'll need you to act a scout; lead me to our ice wolf and make sure the perimeter is secure. Can I count on you to do that?"

"Yes sir!", the the older sibling nodded enthusiastically.

"Cornelia: I'll need you to watch my flank. In my experience, these ice wolves usually travel in groups, so we might end up dealing with more than just one. Keep watch at a safe distance and let me know if you see anything strange."

"Roger!", the younger sibling nodded, albeit with a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "I'll do my best!"

Tatsumi pumped his right fist into the air, "That's what I like to hear! Lets go!"

With that, all three of them began traversing further away from the port with Rolf at the lead. They traveled on the cobbled road for about a mile before breaking off the beaten path and back in the snow-covered forest. And to Tatsumi's surprise, there was still no sign of any danger beast. The lack of class one types and above was to be expected; the higher up in rank, the fewer beasts there were in number. That was the case no matter which country one traveled to. But to not see any danger beasts whatsoever? Not even the likes of which even a child would be able to easily dispose of was unusual to the former assassin. He recalled the comment Esdeath had made earlier in the tavern in regards to "northern vigilance", wondering whether this country was simply better at peacekeeping than the Grand Empire. He almost caught himself thinking that Bestimmung wouldn't be a bad place to live in, only to quickly put such thoughts to rest upon recalling his prior experiences with this country's cultural customs.

As they reached what appeared to be their destination, Tatsumi noticed a decrepit looking barn in the midst of a small open area in the woods. Just from outward appearances alone, the barn looked as if no one had so much as set foot within its interior in decades. And sure enough, as he walked closer, he could hear something rummaging around on the inside, huffing and grunting every couple of seconds or so.

"Ssshhh", Rolf placed his index finger over his lips before carefully treading around the barn's exterior. Having seen nothing lying in wait, he then walked back towards Tatsumi before giving a firm salute. "Perimeter secured."

Tatsumi gave a thumbs-up sign while reaching for Incursio's hilt. "Leave the rest to me."

"Wait", Rolf hurriedly interrupted. "Even though I checked around the barn, we don't know for sure what's inside. The very least I can do is do a little reconnaissance on the inside."

Tatsumi felt himself on verge of mouthing an immediate objection. He had faced multiple Ice-Wolves the last time he had been in this country and one alone certainly wasn't enough to merit such caution. With but one swing of his sword, he could end this entire excursion in an instant. And yet it was perhaps this eagerness in the two siblings' eyes and the sense of nostalgia that he was feeling that gave him pause. Rolf especially. To Tatsumi, this was but a mere run-of-the mill encounter with a danger beast. But to the two children, it seemed like it was a full blown mission to them. "Alright, go on ahead. But if something goes wrong, immediately shout for help. Don't engage. Understand?"

"Will do", Rolf again nodded his head before going back around the barn, this time for the purposes of sneaking inside.

As soon as her older brother was out of sight, Cornelia turned to the former assassin, as if feeling the need to get something off her chest. "Um, Mr. Tatsumi?"

Tatsumi sighed, feeling as if the other sibling were about to make a request similar to her brother's. "Don't tell me you'd like to go inside as well."

Cornelia shook her head. "No, it's not that. I . . .", she stammered. ". . . have a bit of a confession to make. And you can't tell my brother."

"Okay", he replied, confounded by the sudden tone the young girl was taking. "What do you want to tell me?"

"You see, the thing is . . .", she continued stammering. "I've never actually been in a fight, much less done anything like what I'm doing now."

To which the former assassin chuckled. "Yeah, I kind of figured that."

"What gave me away?"

Tatsumi crouched down in front of the young girl before resting one of his hands on one of her shoulders. "When I was your age, I may not have had siblings, but I had the closest thing you could call a brother and sister and so I know what it's like. Getting on each other's nerves. Trying to show off in front of each other. I've been through all of it."

"But why does he have to be such a jerk? We used to play every day. But ever since father assigned him to guard duty on the city limits, it's as if this stuff is all he cares about. "

"Your father? Was he the guard who stopped by in the tavern earlier?"

Cornelia nodded her head. "He's the captain of the Port Gavin guards."

"From what I gather, your brother takes a lot of pride in his work. Don't hold that against him. He might seem hard to deal with, but something tells me that deep down, he loves you with all of his heart.."

"He sure has a hard way of showing it", she continued to stammer, sadness in her voice. "I just wish he wouldn't act like I'm useless. Like I can't do anything on my own."

"That's the real reason you wanted to come all of the way here, isn't it?"

She nodded her head.

"That's where he's wrong then", Tatsumi smiled with a cheerful look in his eyes. "I meant what I said: I'm counting on you to watch my back, Cornelia."

"Call me, Cora. And . . . I . . . I won't let you down!", she again stammered, this time with her cheeks blushing red.

At that very moment, a loud crash could be heard from inside the barn. A crash that was quickly followed by Rolf screaming "HELP!"

Tatsumi wasted no time charging straight through the barns front doors with his sword hand readily clenched on Incursio's hilt. And despite being an abandoned the barn, the interior didn't actually look all that rundown. There were plenty of cobwebs all around for sure, but there were still tools on the workbench, crates and bags of grain tucked away in a corner and not a spec of accumulated dust in sight, not even on the pine wooden floors. Needless the say, the state of the barn wasn't the former assassin's top priority at the moment. It was the young boy he had allowed to enter the barn before him. And the very moment Tatsumi had made it inside, he saw Rolf on the floor on the other side of the barn with multiple crates piled on top of him and with his bow and arrows lying in front of him. "What happened?"

To which the young archer replied, a sense of frustration in his voice. "Dammit. I was looking around for the danger beast and all of these crates fell on me all of the sudden. Can you get me out?"

Cornelia quickly dashed into the barn herself, only to immediately spot her brother as well. "Rolf?! Rolf! Are you okay?"

"Dammit Cora!", Rolf snarled. "Get out of here! You'll only get in the way!"

"Forget it, Rolf! I'm helping you whether you like it or not!"

Tatsumi walked all the way up to the young archer only to promptly begin removing the crates off his back. "You should be more careful. An old barn like this can't be all that sturdy." As he had removed the last crate, however, within but the briefest of instants, he felt chills tingling up his spine. Perhaps it was the experience he gained in having been killed an unspekable amount of times before he had fought his way out of Incursio's mental realm that time, but the former assassin intuitively knew something was not right about this encounter.

Without warning, Rolf suddenly and miraculously lifted himself out of the remaining crates that had been covering him, grabbed one of the arrows that had been in front of him by the shaft and thrusted it towards Tatsumi's throat. And based on its trajectory, the arrow was heading for the former assassin's carotid artery.

Before the arrow could reach its destination, however, Tatsumi had promptly seized the young archer's wrist. His eyes calmly narrowing, he asked the boy, "Who are you and what have you done to Rolf?"

To which the young archer laughed, his tone of voice glazed with a hint of malevolence. "Impressive, human. I knew something was special about you the minute I saw you in the tavern earlier. You may be wearing human skin, but you reek of us."

Cornelia looked confounded and began walking towards her sibling. "Rolf? Big brother? Is that you?"

"Stay back, Cora!", Tatsumi exclaimed. "I don't know what this thing is, but your brother is not himself right now. Something is controlling him."

"Poor Cora", it said in derisive wicked laughter. "It would've been so much more convenient had you not come in here. No one would ever connect the dots had a mere stranger gone missing, but you too? Oh well. With this one as my newest host, perhaps I won't need to hide anymore. I can feast upon the entire town in peace"

"I'll ask you one more time", Tatsumi said, his grip on the young archer's arm tightening. "Who are you and what have you done to Rolf?"

"Rolf has served his purpose just as you'll do in good time."

With one of his hand's still gripped around the young archer's wrist, Tatsumi grabbed Incursio's hilt with his free-hand."Alright. We'll just do this the old fashioned way." As he was about to remove Incursio from its hilt, however, something terribly wrong immediately became apparent to him. Incursio was . . . stuck. It wouldn't move; it wouldn't budge out of its hilt. And it wasn't just Incursio. As a matter of fact, Tatsumi's entire body felt that way. It was only then that Tatsumi had realized that some kind of 'ooze' was traveling out of Rolf's clothes, to his arm that Tatsumi had latched onto to, to Tatsumi's sword. And just as Tatsumi had tried to leap away from this 'thing', whatever it was, he had come to yet another startling realization. Not only had his arms been covered in this substance, but his boots and ankles had as well.

It continued to speak, taunting the former assassin. "You were so caught up with helping what you thought was a child, that you never even considered the possibility you were walking into a trap."

Tatsumi began struggling against this 'ooze' to the best of his ability while all the while piecing the sequence of events the lead him there in the first place. "The recent string of disappearances I've been hearing about and your eagerness to take me out here to this particular place. You've been luring people out here all along, haven't you?"

"And what if I have, human? That knowledge will not spare you my appetite.."

Cornelia was all the while trembling. As she had said, she had never been in a fight before. And not only had she never partaken in combat, but she had never even been close to a situation as dire as this. She was about to take a step back and run away from the barn entirely. But as she watched Tatsumi struggle, she recalled what he said to her prior to rushing into the barn. Words that sparked the fires of determination in her eyes. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked around to see if there was anything she could use to assist him. And that was when she noticed a rake leaning against a nearby wall. She quickly grabbed the rake and ran charging straight into danger. "I don't know what you are, but you better give me back my brother NOW!"

Just as Cornelia was within several feet of this monster under the guise of her brother, it turned its attention towards her and gestured its free hand in an upwards fashion. And just as it did, additional amounts of this ooze like substance came out from the cracks on the pine wooden floors. The ooze enveloped itself around the young girls shoes and ankles, causing her to trip and fall face down.

"Wait your turn, Cora. I'll devour you soon enough", the monster said before turning its attention back to Tatsumi. "Now then . . ." A slime coated leathery tendril with a hook on its tip poked its way out of one of Rolf's ears, bending and curling in Tatsumi's direction as it did so. "Time to break in my new host."

Tatsumi continued to struggle against the ooze like substance, doing his best to move with his eyes fixated on the slime-coated appendage moving closer and closer to him.

Cornelia also did her best to struggle, but was no more capable of breaking her legs free of this strange substance. "Mr. Tatsumi . . . no."

Before another moment could pass, a familiar voice nearby could be heard blurting out the word "Bühnensteuerung!" And with that curious incantation came an expedient sheet of ice rapidly expanding all across the pinewood floor. What's more, before the creature inhabiting Rolf had even realized it, its legs were encased in solid sheets of ice. "Well well well. A danger beast that is not only able to stealthily masquerade as a human, but also appears to be intelligent. One of Dr. Stylish's old experiments perhaps?"

Tatsumi turned his head towards the barn's entrance. "Watch out for its gunk, Esdeath. This thing has got plenty of it under the floor."

To the former assassin's surprise, however, she paid no regard to his warning, instead choosing to walk further into the barn without regard for the possibility of being ensnared in the same trap her boyfriend and Cornelia were in. "It's not 'gunk'; it's pine resin, sweety. And there's only one danger beast I know of that is capable of producing it: A chenoo."

"A chenoo?", Tatsumi asked, evidently never having encountered such a danger beast.

"Indeed. A creature that, in its larvae state, isn't too threatening in its own right, but does have the capacity to burrow itself into another danger beast' skull and and use its body as if it were its own. Still, this one isn't like any chenoo I've encountered. Usually, it only controls other danger beast, class three and below. This is the first time I've seen one control a human. And this one also seems to be capable of speech."

"Another human that reeks of us", the creature said, raising its hand once more as it did when Cornelia approached it earlier. "Perhaps I should make you my host instead." In response, pine resin suddenly began seeping out of the floor beneath Esdeath. Though to the danger beast's misfortune, the ice appeared to be blocking the ooze like substance entirely.

"I've killed hundreds of your kind, chenoo", Esdeath smirked. "Your little trick is nothing I haven't seen before. You need to grow as a larvae and have thus made this barn your nest. You've probably been using that boy's body to lure unsuspecting victims here just so you could feast."

"Stay back", the beast said, it's hook tipped tendril pressing slightly against Tatsumi's throat. "Come another step closer and I'll kill this one immediately."

To which the Ice Queen responded by suddenly conjuring a long and sharp ice spear in her right hand. "Your head will be sliding across the floor long before you get the chance."

"No!" Cornelia cried, still struggling against the pine resin she had been ensnared in. "Please! Don't hurt my brother!"

Not the least bit concerned about his own well-being, Tatsumi continued to gaze in the Ice Queen's direction, "Esdeath . . .", he said with a hint of concern in his voice.

She glared towards her boyfriend for another moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I see. So that's why you allowed yourself to fall into this creature's trap. You were hoping you could find some way to save this girl's older brother. Unfortunately for you, that's impossible."

"Impossible?", Tatsumi asked, eyes widening in horrifying realization. "Then you mean . . ."

"I don't know how to break it to you, little girl", Esdeath said, directing her attention back to Cornelia. "But this thing is NOT your brother. If this thing is in fact the culprit behind the recent string of disappearances we've heard about, then your brother has been dead for weeks."

"D-dead?", Cornelia said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "B-b-but Rolf . . . he's standing right there. It's just like Mr. Tatsumi said. He's just under this danger beasts' control . . . right?"

"I'm afraid not. I've never seen a chenoo possess a human before, but I know how they operate. It takes over its host's body by burrowing itself into its victim's skull and retains all of its hosts thoughts and memories by devouring its brain."

Tears continuing to stream down her eyes, the younger sibling couldn't believe what she was hearing. She promptly looked upon this monster in her brother's body once more, hoping to see some shred of humanity; hoping to see some shred of her beloved Rolf. But alas, the longer she gazed upon this thing, the more Esdeath's cold hard words rang true. This thing most certainly wasn't her brother, but a callous unfeeling monster only concerned about its next meal. And from the look of things, Tatsumi's brain was next on its menu.

"As I said. Your brother served his purpose", the chenoo continued to taunt before glaring towards Esdeath. "And not just him, but you all will soon meet the same fate. Starting with you!" At that precise moment, large goops of pine resin began pouring out from the ceiling. Much like the pine resin that had come flowing up from out the floor, the chenoo appeared to have the ability to telekinetically control the ooze-like substance; an ability it used to cluster all of the falling pine resin in one spot and rain it down upon the Ice Queen

Esdeath was, however, too quick-witted for such a simple ruse. She stretched out her left arm; with but one touch on the tip of her finger, she froze all of falling pine resin in one fell swoop. "Nice try, but . . ." She paused, suddenly realizing that the Chenoo's ruse wasn't as simple as she had assumed. Rather, it was a diversion. Just from the look of its hosts eyes and the sudden tension in its hook-tipped tendril, it was about to do just as it said it would do and kill Tatsumi immediately. And even with her extraordinary speed and reflexes, even she wasn't quick enough to lop off the beast's head at this rate.

With almost no time to act, the Ice Queen only saw one option. Cursing herself for her carelessness, she dropped her ice spear and gestured her hands together in a familiar triangular pose. "Mahapadma" It was the Ice Queen's second most prized ability; it was a trump card of her very own creation; a concentration of Demon Extract's powers to a point where even time and space itself would freeze.

And yet . . . time was anything but frozen. Despite having activated her trump card, in that briefest of moments, she could see the chenoo's hook tipped tendril already piercing through her love's skin. And in that briefest of moments, words could not describe the thoughts that were pouring through the Ice Queen's mind. At that moment, her concern wasn't her safety, the threat the Chenoo posed or why her trump card failed to activate; in her mind, the only thing she could see was what she feared above all else; the only thing she saw was her beloved Tatsumi drifting away from her. Without even realizing it, she had subconsciously reached for the ice spear she had dropped and was already on the verge of skewering the Chenoo while knowing full-well that her efforts would be in vain. But before she could even take a single step towards it, she noticed something protruding out of the beast's head: An arrow.

Tatsumi himself, whose neck had been slightly pierced, had witnessed everything that transpired and looked almost dumbstruck. "Cora . . ." Indeed, even though Cornelia had been bound by the chenoo's pine resin, she appeared to be holding her older siblings bow as well as several arrows in her hands. With the chenoo's attention focused on Tatsumi and Esdeath, she was not only able to reach these weapons with the rake she had grabbed earlier, but was also able to execute this monster before it could kill Tatsumi. And sure enough, after several disorienting blood curdling screams in pain, this body snatching danger beast fell straight on its back.

All the while, Cornelia could hardly believe what she had just done. Monster or not, that was her beloved brother's body she had just felled and she didn't hesitate to kill him. For a young girl her age, this was a great deal to take in and all she could do was look upon her trembling hands as tears continued to run down her cheeks. "What . . . what have I done?"

Tatsumi could scarcely believe what he had just seen himself. This young girl who had never even seen combat not only killed something wearing the face of her own brother, but did it with perfection in what was otherwise a tense and hopeless situation. Latent combat potential no doubt, but there was something else about what had just happened that didn't sit right with the former assassin. Yet before he could ponder on the matter any further, he noticed the pine resin on his body crystallizing into ice. And just as quickly as the adhesive substance had been frozen, it had quickly been shattered into pieces.

"Are you okay?", Esdeath asked, having just smashed away the frozen pine resin on Tatsumi's arms and legs with the ice spear she had conjured earlier. And before even receiving an answer, she promptly began inspecting his neck, making certain that there was no serious injury.

And as she did this, Tatsumi could not help but recall the time Akame had performed a similar examination after his first Night Raid mission. "I'm fine", he reassured her. "He barely nipped me."

For reasons not apparent to Tatsumi, however, Esdeath let out a sigh of frustration before proceeding to dispose of the pine resin around Cornelia's ankles much like she had with her boyfriend moments ago. Although it wasn't clear to him what was going on in that head of hers, it was plainly evident that she did not seem like her usual self. The usual Esdeath would've surely made some arrogant quip about the slain chenoo or she would have perhaps remarked on a desire to dissect this strange danger beast. Yet this Esdeath didn't have anything else to say. Instead, she walked up to her love and expressed her feelings in a way words could not: A cold clean open hand slap across the face.

"What was that for?", Tatsumi asked, rubbing his stinging slapped cheek with one of his hands.

To which Esdeath responded simply by turning around and making her way towards the barn's exit. "Tend to your young friend; she's the one who saved your life after all. Meet me at the Port Gavin Inn after you've finished your business here."

Deciding to leave pondering on the Ice Queen's uncanny demeanor for another time, he directed his attention towards Cornelia, who had been quietly sobbing the entire time. Even though the little girl had saved his life, Tatsumi wanted to curse himself for even allowing her to venture into this barn in the first place. He wondered if she would have been better off not knowing her brother's fate. Instead, he put her in a situation to not only learn a litany of gruesome details about her late sibling, but a situation where she herself had to kill the spitting image of said sibling. Most children her age would collapse under the mental trauma of what had occurred inside this barn; a fate he himself would have perhaps been subjected to if not for the support of friends he made after encountering Night Raid.

Indeed, Tatsumi was intimately familiar with what Cornelia had to be going through at the moment. His familiarity with the pain she was enduring made it all the more clear what he needed to do. Before Cornelia had even realized it, the former assassin crouched down and cupped the little girl in his arms; without uttering a word, he made it clear to her that it was not the end of the world and there was someone she could lean upon in these tragic circumstances. And so Cornelia did just that, sobbing aloud while returning her newfound friend's embrace, clinging onto him as if there were nothing else in the world to cling upon.


. . . I told the guard captain . . .


After what felt like hours of grieving and consoling , Tatsumi and Cornelia eventually ventured their way back to town. She tried to assure Tatsumi a number of times that she was feeling better, but he could easily see the pain and sorrow behind her expression. He figured the least he could do was walk her home and be the bearer of bad news to her parents. There was a part of him that was tempted to ask this little girl about the pivotal moment that lead to her slaying the Chenoo earlier; how she managed to put aside her emotions and kill something that looked just like her brother confounded him. In a way, her indecisiveness in killing that monster eerily reminded him of himself when he had killed that wealthy yet rotten aristocrat, Aria, on the night he first encountered Night Raid.

But as his mind continued to waiver, he once again decided to push away such unnecessary thoughts beyond the borders of his conscious and focus on the task at hand. With a deep and mind-clearing breath, he asked "Is this the place?", having finally made it to what appeared to be the town guard's barracks. And upon seeing her nod her head, he walked right inside with Cornelia behind him.

The moment they walked into what appeared to be a main hall, a guard promptly approached them. "You there. This area is for Port Gavin guards only. If you need to make a report, I suggest you-"

"He's with me", Cornelia interrupted in a tone of familiarity.

"Cora?", the guard remarked, finally noticing her. "What are you doing back here so late? The floors need to be scrubbed again and you still have plenty of laundry to do. And you better have a good explanation for bringing a civilian in here."

"We need to talk to the guard captain", Tatsumi replied. "It's about Rolf."

Seeing the serious and ominous look in the former assassin's eyes, the guard promptly gestured them to follow him and proceeded to guide them to what appeared to be an enclosed office room. As he began knocking on it, a voice from inside could be heard snarling that he "was not to be disturbed!"

In clear deference to the individual behind the closed door, the guard cleared his throat and parsed his words carefully. "Apologies sir, but we've got someone here who claims to have some important information for you. It's about Rolf."

"Rolf?", the voice said. Loud shuffling and scuttling around could immediately be heard from within the office. A strange series of noises that lasted for at least a full minute before the voice finally said "Come in."

As the guard opened the door, the other town guard that Agatha, the old tavern waitress, had referred to as 'Frank' could be seen sitting behind an office desk twiddling his thumbs. In front of him were several large tied-clothe-sack bags filled with what appeared to be gold pieces.

"Rolf?", the guard captain said, rubbing his chin. " "And I see you've brought my knucklehead daughter with you. I don't know where you've been for the past hour Cornelia, but I suggest you get back to your chores right this instant."

"Y-yessir", Cornelia replied, doing her absolute best to mask the pain in her heart. She gave the same salute she had given him the tavern earlier, albeit with far less enthusiasm, before walking away alongside the guard who had guided them to the office in the first place

"There's no need to be so harsh", Tatsumi remarked to the guard captain. "She's just a kid."

"How I choose to run things, be it the Port Gavin guards or my family, is none of your goddamn business. You came here to tell me about my son, so get on with it already."

And so the former assassin did just that; he gave a general account of what all had happened that evening; he explained how a danger beast had been masquerading as Rolf and how the real Rolf had likely been dead for weeks; he explained how this danger beast was likely the culprit behind the series of disappearances the guard captain had been investigating; and without going into too much detail, he explained how this danger beast, had been dealt with. All the while, the guard captain listened closely, his ears hanging on every word. He made certain not to interrupt what was otherwise a uncanny tale, reserving his comments until the end of Tatsumi's explanation. "I see. So it's been a chenoo all along. I had assigned Rolf to patrolling Port Gavin's borders, so he'd definitely be an ideal target for a danger beast that wants its lair on the outskirts of town. Didn't know they could take over human bodies, but it makes sense now that I think about it. Speaking of bodies, what did you do with the body?"

"I decided against burying it. I figured you'd all want to have a proper funeral."

"Excellent, I'll have one of my men retrieve it as soon as possible", the guard captain smirked. "You've done well. To think I was actually going to have to hire mercenaries to get to the bottom of the disappearances, but you resolved it perfectly. Once I tell the higher-ups, I'll be promoted in no time."

"Excuse me?", Tatsumi asked after raising an eyebrow. "What about your son?"

"What about my son?", the guard captain responded. "I'll make sure he gets some credit for this achievement as well; posthumously of course."

And just like that, Tatsumi was reminded of the predominant cultural mindset in this country. The ruthlessness, the cold-blooded mentality, the desire to pursue success at all cost, the willingness to step-on one's own family to get ahead; he had seen all of these characteristics praised in the play he had watched with Chelsea the last time he had visited this country and even recalled briefly discussing these abhorrent elements of Bestimmung's culture with Klaus. Cornelia seemed human enough, but her father was definitely the complete opposite. The more he thought about it, the more apparent it became that the very reason the chenoo was able to steal Rolf's body in the first place was because this man had ordered him, a boy no older than thirteen, to patrol the town's borders at his lonesome. And yet despite this irony, the man showed no remorse whatsoever; rather, he could not have looked any more pleased with this turn of events. "You don't care at all about your kids, do you?"

"Oh", the guard captain said, as if doused with a sudden drop of clarity. "That's right. You're not from Bestimmung, are you?"

"It doesn't matter what country I'm from. A father is supposed to love his children and I'd say it's more than clear that you don't love yours."

Surprisingly, however, the guard captain was not the least bit unnerved by Tatsumi's accusation. "You did good ridding us of that chenoo, so I'll let your ignorance slide, but speak another word about how I run my family and I'll have you arrested immediately for the felony of provoking a town guard."

With merely a shrug of his shoulders, the former assassin said "We're done here", before beginning to walk out of the guard captain's office.

"Wait just a minute!", the guard captain exclaimed, albeit with jovial laughter. "You've done Port Gavin guards a great service, so allow me to at very least give you something for your troubles." He reached into one of his pockets, only to pull out a small tied-together sack. "That's 20 gold pieces. It's not much, but honest work deserves honest pay."

"Thanks, but I don't need-", the former assassin raised his hand in protest before being interrupted.

"Nonsense!", the guard captain responded before forcing the small tied-together sack into one of Tatsumi's jacket pockets. "You saved me the trouble of having to pay mercenaries, so consider us even and consider that incentive should I need your services in the future."

"Right", Tatsumi said while rolling his eyes and walking away.

And just as Tatsumi left the guard captain's office, the guard from earlier walked in with a stack of flyers. And from the looks of them, they were all wanted posters. "Just as you requested sir: A complete list of this month's latest bounties. Does this mean you're finally going to go back to including them on the notice board?

"Not a chance in hell", the guard captain snickered. "I'm just keeping these on hand just in case one of the higher-ups is on board with that group of mercenaries set to sail in later tonight. They're all headed to the Steel festival up north, so they won't be in town long. Still, if a higher-up stops by and asks about the wanted posters, just tell them we keep them all here simply to make certain that only qualified mercenaries take on these jobs. Also make sure to let them know about the good work we've been doing in keeping Port Gavin safe and secure."


. . . There was something off about her . . .


True to her word, the Ice Queen was at the Port Gavin Inn. And she had apparently already checked into a room somehow. A room that wasn't by any means luxurious, must less suitable to her usual taste, but a room that was decent enough in its own right, with a queen sized bed, couch, desk and an adjoining bathroom; certainly a far better arrangement than sleeping outside as she and Tatsumi had been doing. It thus went without saying that she would immediately want to make use of the shower.

As a full stream of hot and soothing water jetted down on her long cerulean hair and statuesque figure, she stood quietly, blankly staring at the shower faucet and with her mind elsewhere. Not even a relaxing shower could distract her from what had happened at the barn earlier. A weak and feckless danger beast had nearly killed her beloved Tatsumi and she had not been able to do a thing about it. "Dammit", she muttered under her breath.

She looked down at the palms of her two hands while picturing as hard as she could the precise movements she made when she attempted to use her trump card earlier; she wondered if she simply performed the technique incorrectly. But the more she thought back to the prior moment, the more she realized that the posture of her hands were perfect. Still, perhaps it was just a fluke; an unknown side effect of Demon's Extract that she had not had any prior opportunity to explore. This seemed unlikely in her mind, but it would nonetheless explain why Mahapadma did not work. Knowing this, she felt she was left was no choice but to try doing the technique again; yes, to try it once more. If it worked, then each and every drop of water jetting out of the faucet would freeze in place for a maximum of 7 seconds. If it did not work, the shower would remain uninterrupted.

Realizing what she needed to do, the Ice Queen once again postured her two hands in the same triangular pose she had in the barn earlier. But just as she did this, she immediately noticed something off about herself; it was her two hands . . . they were . . . trembling. As they trembled, she noticed something else that was off. "Is this . . . fear?", she thought. But why would she be afraid to simply test her imperial arm, she wondered. It was almost as if . . . as if . . . she did not want to know what would happen. "What nonsense! I am Esdeath and Esdeath fears nothing!"

With raw determination in her eyes, she quickly ceased trembling, instead yelling out the the word "Mahapadma!" at once so she could put these nagging feelings to rest once and for all. And just as she said it, the stream of jetting water . . . remained unimpeded; hot and soothing water continued to drizzle down her long cerulean hair and statuesque figure without any impediment whatsoever. A cue that would ordinarily be for pleasure and relaxation had, in that moment, ironically enough, become a cue for even more of this feeling the Ice Queen had denied existed a moment earlier. But precisely what was it the gave birth to this dreadful feeling?

Before she could ponder any further on what had just happened, she could hear someone knocking on the front door. In response, she switched the shower knob off, stepped out from the shower, reached for one of the complimentary towels on the bathroom counter and snugly wrapped it around her waste and upper body. She then proceeded to walk straight to the front door and open it, intuitively aware of who was on the other side. "Finally back, are we? I thought you'd at least want to make certain this town didn't have any cats stuck in any trees", the Ice Queen's words dripping with sarcasm.

It was her beloved former assassin of course and he didn't appear to take any offense to her snide remark. Rather, he walked right into the room and took a seat on the foot of the bed. "Look, I know why you're upset with me."

"Do you now?", Esdeath asked, walking up to him with her arms folded.

"It's just like the time we fought those pirates on that merchant's ship", Tatsumi remarked, recalling his encounter with the pirate who had nearly killed him in a suicide grenade attack only to be thwarted by the Ice Queen. "You don't like seeing me put myself in danger."

Following her boyfriend's cue, Esdeath proceeded to sit right next to him on the foot of the bed. "It's not that I don't like seeing you put yourself in danger, love. It's just that . . . .", she stopped herself, trying to think of a way to parse his next statement without sounding weak or desperate, ". . . it would be awfully inconvenient to me if you were to die all of the sudden. I would be robbed of a soulmate and a worthy rival all in one swoop."

Hearing her answer only made Tatsumi smile however as it was fairly obvious that she was trying to downplay the full extent of her feelings on this subject. Which was odd to him as she was certainly never this shy about any other aspect of their relationship. "Whatever you say, Esdeath. Regardless, the bottom-line is that I didn't mean to worry you and I'm sorry."

Her eyes beaming with heartfelt joy, she swiftly threw both of her arms around him and pulled him in for an passionately intimate embrace. "Apology accepted, my love!"

His smile growing warmer by the moment, Tatsumi wrapped both of his arms around his Ice Queen's back, returning her embrace and knowing that her love and affection weren't simply commonly used goods she casually dispense with just any prospective lover as would be the case for many other young couples. Rather, these were unique commodities reserved for him and him alone.

"Hey Tatsumi", Esdeath whispered in a hushed mischievous tone.

"Yeah-", he said before being interrupted by her speedily pushing him down on the bed and onto his back. And before he had even realized it, she had already crawled her way on top of him in a fashion that was identical to the way she had done so in her bedroom in the capital not long after they had first met.

"To be perfectly honest", she said while nibbling and pecking his neck. "I've always wondered what would have happened had you just given into me back then."

"You mean before or after you put a collar around my neck?", he replied, his cheeks blushing and his breathes getting faster.

As she continued giving his neck her full attention, she slipped one of her hands beneath his assassin's jacket, slowly pulling it off. "You know what I'm talking about. Although that collar part would still be fun."

"Not in a million years", he retorted, now giggling from the sensually ticklish sensation on his neck.

Just as she heard those words, the Ice Queen promptly ceased her little game on her lover's neck and additionally ceased pulling his jacket off. Instead, she immediately reached for his arms and pinned them down by his wrists only to remain on top of him in an intimidating fashion; a pose a great deal of men would no doubt pay money for, but one Tatsumi simply found curious.

"Oh no", the former assassin said with a semi-annoyed look on his face, almost as if intuitively knowing exactly what she was thinking. "We are so NOT doing THAT."

To which Esdeath smirked with a rather smug look in her eyes. "In all of this commotion, my love, it would appear you completely forgot about the wager we made earlier this afternoon."

"Good grief", Tatsumi sighed in indignation. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like where this is going?"

She lowered her head to peck him on the cheek before continuing her explanation. "As I recall, the deal was that whoever had the most gold pieces by 11:00 pm would be the winner and the loser would have to abide by one request from the winner no matter what it was. Did you ever stop to wonder how I managed to rent this hotel room?"

"What?!", Tatsumi exclaimed, eyes widening in disbelief. "You mean you actually found a class one ice-wolf out there? But how?"

To which the Ice Queen chuckled, "You may be my equal in combat, darling, but when it comes to hunting, you may as well compete with the local dog catcher. You could have waited up in that tree for an entire month and you still would have never spotted a class one ice-wolf out in these parts."

"Okay fine; you have a point. But still, I never said I would abide by your requests no matter what it was!"

"No, your words were . . . fine, but it can't involve killing, stealing or otherwise doing something a bad guy would do", the last part being said in a way that cheaply imitated Tatsumi's voice.

He rolled his eyes, "You're terrible at impressions you know."

"Maybe so", she laughed. "But I'd say my echoic memory more than makes up for it. Now then, I believe it was 10:57 pm when you walked through the door. You know what that means, right?"

Tatsumi sighed in indignation once more, realizing the implications as clear as day. And being one of honor and integrity, the thought of going back on his word did not even occur to him. He said he would honor one request and he knew he had to do just that. "I guess."

"Splendid", she giggled before pecking him on the cheek once more. "But just to make my victory all the more sweeter . . .", she said before getting up off of her love and walking over to the desk nearby. She then opened one of the desk drawers and removed what appeared to be a sack of gold pieces. "Why don't we confirm the final score?"

"Whatever", Tatsumi got up and out of the bed unenthusiastically, not at all looking forward to how the evening was about to proceed. He walked to the desk while searching for any and all remnants of gold pieces in his pockets.

Esdeath proceeded to dump her bag of gold pieces onto the desk, brandishing an impressive pile in the process. "Minus the cost of renting this room, I have a staggering total of 490 gold pieces. Your turn!"

While muttering under his breath, he removed the gold pieces that had been stashed away in one of his pants pockets and laid it on the desk; there were a total of 10, but they notably paled in comparison to Esdeath's large and hefty pile.

Seeing the sight of this brought nothing but unbridled boastful laughter from the Ice Queen. "Is that all? I was hoping you'd have at least made this somewhat interesting.

Tatsumi then reached for his coat pocket to grab the meager sum Cornelia's father had forcefully placed there earlier; a meager 20 gold pieces he had been told, but still nowhere near enough to match his girlfriend's sizable profit. As he untied the clothed sack the gold pieces were stuffed in, Esdeath continued to laugh, savoring her apparent victory for each and every moment. Upon finally untying the clothed sack, he flipped it upside down as if to dump out all of the gold pieces that were inside. But to his surprise, he did not see 20 gold pieces; instead, he saw a mere 4 gold pieces come out and plop onto the desk in his meager pile. The sight of this annoyed him at first, but then he realized something even more surprising. There was still something in the clothed sack; something slightly larger than the other 4 gold pieces that had fallen out. Determined to see what it was, the former assassin forcefully prodded out this last item, only for his eyes to widen in amazement as this last item plodded onto the desk.

The smug look of satisfaction had abandoned the Ice Queen all of the sudden and she too appeared to be shocked at what had just plopped into Tatsumi's pile. "How in blue blazes did you get that?!" It was a gold piece that looked identical to the one they saw in the tavern earlier; it was a plućque.

Tatsumi picked up the highly valuable gold piece as if to scrutinize it closely. "The guard captain gave it to me . . . and I'm guessing by mistake as he definitely didn't strike me as being the generous type. Either way, you do know what this means, right?"

"Technically, you did not earn that by hunting a danger beast!", Esdeath replied, overtly on the defensive. "As a matter of fact, you didn't even earn that. You got lucky!"

"Maybe", Tatsumi grinned. "But as I recall, the deal was whoever has the most gold pieces by 11:00 pm tonight is the winner", he said, emphasizing those last words in a way that cheaply imitated Esdeath's voice. "And as you can see, by the time I walked in the door, I had over 5000 gold pieces.

Esdeath was now the one sighing in indignation. "You're equally terrible at impressions, my love."

"True, but I'm also the winner!", he said before doing a fist pump.

"Fine", she rolled her eyes. "Incredibly dumb luck notwithstanding, you win. So what is it you'd like for me to do?"

The former assassin smirked while rubbing his chin in a ruminating fashion, rather satisfied with how things had turned out. "Hmm. I'll have to think about it. And unlike me, you didn't make any stipulation for what would happen in the event you lost, so I've got free reign for whatever request I want."

"What have I gotten myself into", she sighed once more, this time rubbing her face against one of her palms.


. . . That was when they found out . . .


Back at the guard barracks, the guard captain was still in his office counting a large pile of gold pieces. With each piece he counted, he grew all the more pleased with himself. "4,603 . . . 4,604 . . . 4,605 . . . 4,606 . . . 4,607 . . . 4,608 . . . 4,609."

Before he could count another gold piece, knocking could be heard on the office door. "Guard captain, sir, permission to come in?"

Feeling to be in such a magnanimous mood, the guard captain didn't even think of fussing over once again being interrupted. He did, however, make certain to shove every gold piece he had lying out straight into a clothed sack bag before quickly tying it closed. "Is that you, Cornelia? Come right in."

She did just that, walking right into the office and closing the door behind her. "I've finished all my chores just as you asked and the floors have been waxed spotless.

"Good. Very good", he said, looking all the more pleased with his daughter's hard work. "Should a Bestimmung official drop by here tonight, it's imperative that this place look spotless."

"Are there any other assignments you have for me? If not, permission to go to bed, sir?", she asked while giving a firm salute.

"No other assignments, but I would like to talk with you. Have a seat", he said, gesturing towards one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Yes sir." The little girl did just as her father ordered, sitting down and scooting her seat closer to his desk to compensate for her small stature.

"Things are finally looking up for us, he said, grinning from ear to ear. "Not too long ago, one of our ambassadors was assassinated up near Hertz. From what I hear, the assassins were part of some little pathetic coup that got quelled down in the Grand Empire. Even though it was the work of assassins, the guard captain up in Hertz received most of the blame and is currently set to be executed for his bungling."

With a look of confusion in her eyes, Cornelia couldn't help but ask, "With all due respect, sir, what does that have to do with us?"

To which the guard captain responded, "Hertz' position of guard captain is officially up for grabs and I've already sent in my application. And now, thanks to the notoriety I'm bound to receive thanks to your brother's efforts and the amount of gold pieces I've been able to set aside to make certain the application process goes smoothly, I'm all but guaranteed to get the position. And do you know what that means for us?"

"Sir, to be honest, I don't-"

But the guard captain was so enthusiastic, that he couldn't wait to listen to his daughter's response. "We get to leave this sorry one-horse town once and for all. Hertz is a very nice city and one of the finest cities in Bestimmung. And with the salary their guard captain receives, you'll never have to worry about cleaning another floor. Instead, we can finally live in an estate and I can finally afford to send you to a full fledged academy!"

At that moment, however, the prospect of having a better life didn't even occur to Cornelia. Her mind was in the same place it had been that entire evening. "Sir, I'm sorry, but is it wrong that I can't stop thinking about Rolf?"

"Sweet little Cornelia", the guard captain sighed before getting out of his office chair and walking around his desk towards his daughter. He looked down upon her, but not in anger or annoyance; he remained as gleeful as he had throughout their entire conversation thus far. Then, with an affectionate pat on her head, he said, "We've been over this before. Leave the dead behind us. Always. We will remain grateful to the role Rolf played in putting us in our current position, but you must remember that he's dead; he's never coming back. So don't get saddled down by his death. Embrace it. Be proud of the good your brother has done for us and use it to your advantage. If I haven't taught you anything else in this world, I've taught you that. Right now, you're stronger than he was. Take pride in your strength and live on. Remember that and you will always succeed no matter what. Now head on to bed. I have some business to take care of, but we'll talk more in the morning"

"Yes sir!", she said before giving another firm salute and walking away.

"Now then, where was I?", the guard captain asked himself, his eyes almost obsessively fixated on the many clothed sacks of gold pieces in his office. "Ah yes, counting the requisition money I'm naturally entitled to for being such a good guard captain." He picked up several clothed sack bags he had placed on his desk and promptly placed them on the floor nearby. He then reached into his desk drawer, his eyes gleaming all the more brightly and he saw a particular small tied-together clothed sack bag. "Ah yes, the plućque I would have had to have spent on mercenaries. This little piggy went straight to the bank." He picked the bag up and fondly kissed its exterior . . . only to notice something off about it. It didn't feel like one gold piece three times the size of a regular gold piece. It felt like 10, no 15, no 20 gold pieces stuffed inside. Panicking all of the sudden, he quickly untied this small clothed sack bag and dumped the gold pieces right down on his desk. And to his horror, there was no plućque in sight. Just 20 gold pieces. "What the hell?! IT'S GONE!"

Consumed by rage, the guard captain tore open bag after bag, looking for his precious plućque until finally realizing what had actually transpired. That bag of gold pieces he gave away earlier; the one he gave away in exchange for that young red eyed young man's assistance in dealing with the Chenoo. Prior to that man even coming into his office, the guard captain recalled how he had quickly packed away every gold piece he had been counting on his desk so that no one could realize what he was doing with most of the requisition money, including the plućque. He had placed one small bag in his pockets and one small bag, the one he had believed to contain the plućque into his desk.

"DAMN IT ALL!", the guard captain snarled, knocking everything off his desk in blind rage. The gold pieces, various documents and the stack of wanted posters he had been given had all fallen on the floor. He smashed both of his fist onto his desk and yelled out all sorts of expletives. He was even about to flip his desk over entirely. But just as he had gotten a firm grip on it, something on the floor caught his eye; something curious enough to temporarily subdue his blind rage. He reached for this item that captivated his attention; he wanted to make certain that his eyes were not playing tricks on him; he wanted to make sure he was indeed seeing what he believed he was seeing. It was one of the wanted posters and it was none other than a wanted poster for someone he had seen in the tavern earlier that day: A wanted poster for a certain ex-Grand Empire general with long blue hair; it was a 5 billion gold pieces dead, 10 billion gold pieces alive bounty for former General Esdeath.

At that moment, all was well again for the guard captain and the absence of his precious plućque was no more a cause for concern than a fly buzzing around the room; needless to say, he was once again grinning from ear to ear.


. . . I didn't know what was wrong . . .


Water dripping down his skin and steam having fogged up the bathroom mirror, Tatsumi had just stepped out of the shower. And given the outdoor living arrangements he had been enduring for much of the past month, a normal hot water shower was long overdue in his mind. He reached for one of the towels set to the side on the bathroom counter. As he steadily dried himself off, he noticed his reflection in the mirror; particularly, he noticed his eyes; his two red eyes and two cross-slit pupils. Gazing upon himself for several minutes, he realized that this was the first time he had seen a reflection of himself since his metamorphosis with Incursio. And it wasn't just his eyes either that he noticed, but his appearance in general. He recalled the trademark cowlick he had sported in his hair for so long, only to realize it was gone.

As he continued to observe himself in the mirror, he ran his fingers across his face, perhaps subconsciously expecting to see a mask tether off and reveal the original green eyed boyish adventurer who had waltzed into the capital over a year ago and who felt he could easily attain the rank of a captain in the imperial army. No such mask appeared however, prompting him to widen his eyes for reasons only his subconscious could understand. He hadn't just physically changed, but had mentally changed as well and not just in the area of combat as he had demonstrated in his climactic battle with Esdeath.

He recalled his conversation with the guard captain earlier in the evening, knowing that his former self, consistent with how he had previously dealt with similar people in authority, would not have hesitated to lash out at him in a tirade for caring so little about his own son's death. But his current self did not even consider doing so, calmly and methodically determining that it wasn't worth the effort. He had thought Incursio's perfect sync trial was simply about overcoming his tendency to follow other people's initiative as opposed to his own, but were there some changes to his demeanor and mentality that he was not consciously aware of?

"Maybe I'm just overthinking things", he thought to himself before walking away from the mirror and towards the bathroom's linen closet. He reached inside, grabbed himself the spare bathrobe that was inside and began putting it on. "Everything that has happened since then has turned out for the best."

Just as the former assassin walked out of the bathroom, he noticed the Ice Queen lounging on the bed with her attention squarely fixated on her prized sketchbook. Like him, she was also attired in a bath robe, no doubt one that had been in the linen closet. She also appeared to have tied her long blue hair into a pony tail. "You certainly took your time in there", she remarked, evidently in the middle of doodling another one of her pictures.

With one hand behind his head, Tatsumi sported a somewhat embarrassed smile, "Scrubbing that pine resin off my back took a little extra elbow grease."

To which Esdeath responded, still fixated with her sketchbook, with a sly grin on her lips, "Yet another reason we should simply shower together."

"I told you I'm not ready for that kind of stuff just yet!", Tatsumi defensively replied and with a blush on his cheeks no less. Despite having long come to terms for his feelings for the Ice Queen, this relationship thing was still new to him and he was not prepared to dive right into every possibility that could be explored.

Esdeath set her sketchbook aside and responded with a faux over-the-top fainting gesture,"Must you insist on teasing me so, love?"

To which Tatsumi sighed before walking towards the window, "It's not teasing. If we're gonna give this relationship thing a shot, I'd prefer to take it slow."

"Perhaps there's some truth in that sentiment", she laughed before going back to her sketchbook. "By the way, have you thought about the request you get to make, as per our wager? Frankly, I'd rather just get it out of the way. The sooner the better."

"Still haven't thought of anything", he shrugged, gazing upon the view outside. The Port Gavin Inn wasn't much, but they were four stories up on its tallest floor. "To be honest, it's not that big of a deal. We've got some money now and that's really all I was concerned about."

"Nonsense, darling. For better or for worse, I made you a wager and I lost fair and square. Trust and honesty are the cornerstones of any healthy relationship, so go ahead and make your request. I'll honor my word."

"I have no doubt about that. Just let me think about it", he replied before something else in the room caught his attention. "Wow! That was fast." Both Tatsumi and Esdeath's clothes were hung up on a clothes rack next to the desk and looked spotless from the look of things. As he walked up to inspect their attire, he couldn't help but marvel at how well a job had been done. "And not a speck of pine resin either!"

With a stretch of her arms and a light yawn , the Ice Queen set her sketchbook on the end table next to her before pulling back the bed covers and sliding under them, smirking all the while. "You'd be amazed how quickly you can motivate someone to iron out and dry clean something at this hour."

Following her cue, Tatsumi hit the light switch and proceeded to climb into bed himself, sliding right under the covers as well and lying on his side. "Do I even want to know what kind of 'motivation' you used?"

"Nothing crass, my love", she winked, having some idea of what barbaric conclusions her boyfriend was jumping to, ". . . especially if we're to go by Bestimmung standards."

"Bestimmung standards . . .", Tatsumi remarked to himself with a contemplative look on his face, those last two words catching his attention; he was thinking back on what the guard captain had said during the latter parts of their conversation about Rolf; how the guard captain didn't seem to care about his son's death and was more concerned with who was going to get the credit for slaying the chenoo. If that was the kind of man the guard captain was, then Cornelia would have no one to turn to in her darkest hour. Whereas Tatsumi had had Night Raid to lean upon, Cornelia would have no one; a cold and plain realization he could not shake away.

Esdeath, on the other hand, was playfully twirling the loose strands of hair near her left ear. It had been some time since she had shared a bed with her love. They had slept together every night since officially becoming a couple, but there was no disputing that warm and soft bed offered far more intimacy than sleeping on the hard ground ever could. She turned over on her side in his direction, curious to see the look in his eyes; curious to see how he was feeling. But as she looked his way, she realized he was looking away, his back facing her; she noticed that he was silent and taciturn all of the sudden. And so before he even knew it, the Ice Queen had scooted over and wrapped her arms around his torso, gracefully spooning into him from behind as if melding into place. "Do I even need to guess what you're thinking about, my love?"

"Heh", a small but reluctant smile curved on his lips, "You know me pretty well at this point."

"Cornelia will be fine", she said, playfully running her fingers up and down his chest. "You of all people should know that you can't judge people by appearances alone. You saw how she handled herself tonight when pushed to the brink; she has a lot more potential than you're giving her credit."

"She might, but she's still just a kid. And I'd hate to see someone as pure and innocent as her turn out just like her father."

Still dangling her fingers across his chest, she giggled. "You really think it's that simple? That people just emulate every trait and characteristic of their parents? My father never shared my fondness for vivisecting. And he was most certainly never as dedicated to proving that 'only the strong live and the weak die as I was."

"No, but he is the reason you started believing that stuff in the first place."

"And so what do you intend to do about it? Kidnap your new friend and raise her yourself to see to it that she never loses her so-called purity? Or perhaps you intend to go back to the guard barracks and give her father such a sound thrashing that he will have no choice but to apologize for his impudence?"

"You know I'd never do that."

"No", she laughed. "But teasing you about the moral ambiguity of your choices has become somewhat of a pastime for me. In all seriousness though, you have two choices. You can either be a hypocrite and do something you'd certainly chastise me for doing or . . . you can have faith in your new friend."

"Faith in my friends, huh", he chuckled, surprised to hear the Ice Queen utter such an optimistic expression. That was typically a sentiment he'd express, not her. "It looks like I've been rubbing off on you, Esdeath."

"Hmph. Don't get too full of yourself, Tatsumi. My point is that you should try and let people solve their own problems as opposed to constantly giving into this bizarre urge to jump into other people's affairs just so you can play the hero. Look where it just about got you tonight."

"Maybe I got a bit reckless with the chenoo", he said, still chuckling. Then, with her arms still relaxed around him, he rolled over and gazed upon her face to face, causing her to blush as he did this. "But I knew all along you had been tailing us to that barn. I just pretended not to notice."

By this point, she had stopped loosely dangling her fingers across his torso. Rather, with an eyebrow raised, she asked, "What are you saying?"

"Oh c'mon, Esdeath. You commanded the Jaegers. Do I need to spell it out? We're teammates now and teammates count on each other to watch each other's back."

"Soulmate? Yes. Boyfriend? Yes? But teammates? You and me? Ha! Don't be absurd."

"Wait, what? You don't mind the first two, but have a problem with the last one? How's that not absurd?"

The Ice Queen narrowed her eyes with tension thick enough to be pierced with a rapier. "First, outside the area of love, you are my rival. The day will come when I crush you. Never forget that. Second, there is no team here. I merely tailed you because I knew your foolishness would get you into trouble. A team implies we're working for a singular purpose and I most certainly could not care less what happens to Port Gavin much less what happens to its inhabitants."

Upon hearing this, Tatsumi gazed upon her for several moments with a dumbstruck look on his face before continuing to chuckle, much to Esdeath's irritation. Love or not, she was still very prideful and had absolutely no tolerance for insubordination. It was funny to him because even though she had changed a great deal since they had first met, she was still in many ways the same woman who had invited him into her bedroom the night after they had first met and the same woman who proudly declared he would never change her. But before she could even muster up a threat, she felt Tatsumi's lips brushed up against hers, quickly eradicating the indignation that had been building up for the last couple of moments and replacing it with her usual schoolgirl swooning. To which Tatsumi then said, "Look, I get that you're arrogant as all hell and that we don't see eye to eye on a whole lot of things, but when it's all said and done, I trust you with my life. And so even though I was reckless, I knew you had my back and knew you weren't going to let anything happen."

". . . Tatsumi . . . I . . .", she uttered with a heartfelt blush on her cheeks. The Ice Queen wanted to say something. Words that her immense pride would never allow her to say. And yet words that seemed to be cutting their way out from her heart, out from her immense pride and all the way up through her throat. But just as she was about to muster the very next word, she was reminded by the events that took place in the barn. How she had tried to use her trump card yet failed. She was further reminded of her experiment in the shower and how her trump card yet again failed to activate. One's eyes were the window into one's soul; a fact she knew all too well after years of torture. She wasn't about to let someone peek into her soul at the moment even if it were her proclaimed soulmate. She quickly averted her eyes from his gaze, released him from her grasp and rolled over to the other side of the bed. ". . . need to get some rest. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Her back now facing him, the former assassin gazed upon it for a few moments, not knowing if he once again did something wrong. He looked upon her a few additional moments, before shrugging his shoulders, rolling over to the other side of the bed and uttering the words. "Yeah . . . well goodnight."


. . . FIRE . . .


Several hours had passed in the little town of Port Gavin and it was at least an hour or two after midnight. The streets were just about empty, the shops were all closed, the docks were unattended and even the tavern was notably quiet. No one was up and about . . . besides the Port Gavin guards. Indeed, the Port Gavin guards were well on the move at the time and a great number of them were marching together in three separate single file lines all towards the Port Gavin Inn. At the front and center of them was Frank, the guard captain. His attention was preoccupied with Esdeath's wanted poster and the massive bounty it promised.

As the guard captain continued to gaze upon the flier in his hands, a gentleman in a dressed suit approached him. "Just as you directed, I've evacuated everyone else inside the inn. I've kept my end of the bargain."

"Yes, and you and your Inn will be handsomely reimbursed", the guard captain smirked. "When I'm through here, I'll have enough to buy twenty inns like this one if I so choose."

Seven other guards approached their captain just as he said this; four of them had been pulling a mounted cannon at least sixteen feet long, eight feet wide and eight feet tall and the other three were pulling a gargantuan cannonball similar in size. "Just as you ordered, sir", one of the guards sir after giving a firm salute.

The guard captain folded up the wanted poster in his hands and stashed it away in one of his pockets before directing his attention towards the Port Gavin Inn itself. "Good. Take aim at the set of windows on the fourth floor five meters to the right. Make certain not to miss or it'll be your head." Heeding their captains orders, the guards did just that, carefully calibrating the monstrosity they had been pulling. All the while, the guard captain appeared to be all too pleased with himself and what he believed to be his brilliance. "I've done my homework, ex-general Esdeath. Even a weapon like this isn't enough to kill you, but even if it does, I can live with a 5 billion gold piece bounty. If it doesn't, we can finish you off in the wreckage and subdue you afterwards."

"Target secured, sir!", one of the guards yelled, having correctly calibrated their mounted cannon into place. "On your command!"

Upon putting on a pair of what appeared to be sound dampening ear muffs, he yelled "FIRE!" And at the very next moment, it had sounded as if a hellish bolt of lightning had struck the ground. A sound so loud and thunderous that it immediately shattered the windows of every building nearby. The windows were but the least of what was destroyed however, as the entire room Tatsumi and Esdeath had checked into was more or less vaporized. Not only that, but as a additional couple of seconds passed, the entire building began to collapse, leaving nothing but heaps of smoke and rubble in its place. All the while, the guard captain stood solemn with his arms crossed, smirking with satisfaction at what was otherwise a job well done.


A/N: That was pretty long, wasn't it? Sorry folks, but I have had a lot of time to tinker. The remaining 11 chapters should not be quite as long, but we will see!

Love it? Hate it? Had to have been written by a complete and total hack? Meh? Feel free to leave a review! Feedback is always appreciated! As are follows and favorites! Thanks again and look forward to the second chapter as soon as I get around to it!